->''George Washington took office as the first president of the United States of America 200 years ago today[[note]]This is wrong; Washington was inaugurated in 1789, and this part of the game takes place in 2009[[/note]]. And it happened right here. We were going to declare another independence -- the dawn of a new nation -- here.''-->-- '''Solidus Snake'''

''Due to the infamy of this game's FirstEpisodeSpoiler, [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers all tropes and spoilers related to it]] will be left unmarked in the examples section as well as the summary below. YouHaveBeenWarned.''

You know the anticipation for a game is big when you can [[PreviewPiggybacking package]] a demo of it in [[VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders another game]] and get ''that'' game to sell like hotcakes. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' was a huge success and its inevitable sequel was the {{killer app}} of 2001.

Two years have passed since [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid the Shadow Moses Incident]]. Due to an intelligence leak, [[LensmanArmsRace the militaries of the world have learned how to create and manufacture their own Metal Gears]]: a [[WalkingTank highly-advanced mobile tank]] capable of launching a nuclear warhead.

Solid Snake, now a leader of the anti-Metal Gear activist group "Philanthropy", follows a tip that the United States Marine Corps has developed a new model of Metal Gear and sneaks on-board the oil tanker secretly transporting it. Before he can leak the images to the media, however, the tanker is suddenly attacked by a group of Russian mercenaries and destroyed, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil into the ocean. As a result, Snake is [[{{Frameup}} framed]] as an eco-terrorist and goes off the grid.

In response to the spill, the United States government builds a marine decontamination facility called "Big Shell" off the coast of New York. But two years later, Big Shell is captured by a terrorist group calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty". A rookie FOXHOUND agent codenamed "Raiden" is tasked with infiltrating the facility and rescuing the hostages held by the Sons of Liberty; hostages that include the [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidents President of the United States]]. But not only are the Sons of Liberty backed up by a band of Russian mercenaries and a rogue American counter-terrorism unit called "Dead Cell", but their leader claims to be Solid Snake himself.

Being a ''Franchise/MetalGear'' game, you can expect [[StoryToGameplayRatio a whole lot of chatter]] and the plot to be [[DenserAndWackier denser than a cement block]]. However, things really get ramped UpToEleven in this installment, with lengthy sequences of cutscenes and Codec calls that can last up to half an hour. Also introduced are The Patriots, a ruling cabal which has secretly been orchestrating every ''Metal Gear'' game (news to FOXHOUND and co.), and the series' famous KudzuPlot takes root here. The game is especially remembered for laying down one MindScrew of an ending which has been analyzed endlessly and even has its [[Synopsis/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty very own page here]] on TV Tropes.

The story is thematically ambitious and contains elements of surrealism, post-modernism, and {{breaking the fourth wall}}, which is, depending on who you ask, a landmark in gaming and hugely ahead of its time, or a long-winded, anti-establishment rant [[ProtectionFromEditors which cries for an editor]]. While derided by some fans for its esoteric plot and [[NeverTrustATrailer deliberately misleading advertising]], it sold well and became a cult success amongst a great portion of the fanbase - and is even used to explain meme theory in some serious institutions. Despite the polarizing nature of the storyline, the game was acclaimed for its groundbreaking gameplay and graphics which heavily utilized the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2's capabilities.

''Metal Gear Solid 2'' introduces many game mechanics that would define the rest of the series, with deeper stealth elements (it is now possible to take out guards non-lethally with tranquilizer rounds, as well as hide in lockers), an immensely increased level of interactivity with the game world, and far more advanced enemy AI (guards get suspicious if a sentry fails to deliver their status report, and deploy [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe protective riot gear]] should the player be spotted). It also showcased some great graphics and awesome character animations. Retail copies of the game entered production on [[TooSoon/SeptemberEleventh September 12, 2001]], which led to several scenes being hastily cut from the final version of the game relating to the possible destruction of Manhattan. These aspects were later implemented in its official {{novelization}} by Raymond Benson. The WTC towers themselves, visible from the Tanker in beta demos, were removed from Manhattan scenes.

Some time later, the game was [[UpdatedRerelease re-released]] as ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance'' as a multiplatform release on the Xbox, [=PlayStation 2=], and PC, with over 500 stand-alone VR and Alternate Misisons, an additional Snake Tales mode starring Solid Snake in five sneaking missions around the main game's stages, a skateboarding game based on Konami's own ''Evolution Skateboarding'', and new [[AuthorAppeal pin-up posters]]. There was also a bonus game disc, ''The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2'', which was essentially an interactive making of featurette, including interviews with the developers, behind the scenes footage of the motion capture actors, and every cutscene in the game. This disc was sold separately in Japan and North America, but [[RegionalBonus was included for free in the PAL release]] of ''Substance''.

Although the next game, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', is a prequel of the entire series, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' continues the story a few years from where this game left off and [[AuthorsSavingThrow retcons Metal Gear Solid 2's twist ending]] into something a little easier to swallow. Like the first game, this one also has a novelization by Raymond Benson, and a comic book adaptation, also available as a motion comic in the form of ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée'' ([[NoExportForYou but only in Japan]] until the release of ''The Legacy Collection''). A high-definition [[UpdatedRerelease re-release]] is now available for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/XBox360 and UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita as a component of ''Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection'', alongside ''Metal Gear Solid 3'' and (in the overseas console versions) ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker''.

----!!I need tropes! 61!

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[[folder:A-D]]

* HundredPercentCompletion: The dog tags and VR missions make it a massive pain due to all the grinding; the dog tag challenge requires holding up every guard in the entire game, before repeating it four more times on the other difficulties. The VR missions, however, require the player to get the high score on about fifty missions as Raiden, before repeating the majority of the said challenges again as Ninja Raiden and Naked Raiden.[[note]]Read: Raiden with just his sword and Raiden with no weapons.[[/note]] And once the Raiden missions are over with, you get to ''[[LastLousyPoint do it four more times as Snake, Pliskin, Tuxedo Snake and MGS1 Snake]]''.* AbsurdlySharpSword: Raiden's sword is capable of slicing through heavy body armor (and the flesh beneath) and even ''explosive rockets'', not to mention deflect bullets, with no degradation in the sharpness of the blade. The game explains that the sword vibrates at high frequency, causing it to become incredibly hot, augmenting its cutting ability.* AchievementMockery: The Snake Beater achievement is a 10G achievement for Snake getting caught, uhm, [[ADateWithRosiePalms stimulating himself]].* {{Acrofatic}}: Fatman can zoom around and pirouette on his in-line skates, despite his size ''and'' heavy blast suit [[spoiler:''and'' the significant amount of explosives secretly strapped to his back]].* ActionBasedMission:** All of the boss fights.** The sword-fighting sequence before the Metal Gear boss fight near the end.* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: What [=S3=] stands for: "Solid Snake Simulation", a training sim to breed agents on par with Solid Snake. [[spoiler:Actually, the real name of the plan is "Selection for Societal Sanity"; the stuff about training new spies was just to mislead Ocelot.]]* AddressingThePlayer: [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes Former]] {{trope namer}}.* AdultFear:** The final act, if you get past the TrueArtIsIncomprehensible part. [[spoiler:The U.S. is controlled by AI programs and the point of the plot is revealed: they figured out they can make anyone into what they want, given the right set of circumstances. Oh and the main character's love interest? Set up by them. It even makes you question whether she actually ''exists''.]] Let's see: fear of loved ones having ulterior motives? Check. Fear of not knowing what's actually real? Check. Fear of having no control in your life? Check.** Add "fearing for your child's safety" courtesy of [[spoiler:Olga's child being held hostage by the Patriots, and Raiden's life being tied to said child's, as well as to that of Rose and their unborn child]].* AIIsACrapshoot:** RAY is the first model of Metal Gear which can operate unmanned. Later, Emma's virus causes the RAY army to go crazy and attack indiscriminately, causing Solidus to bellow, "Stupid machines!" before destroying them out of spite.** [[spoiler:Towards the end of the game, it's revealed that your support team are a bunch of AI when they start malfunctioning]]... or are they? * AllThereInTheManual:** Ames' motivations are clearer if you've read through Nastasha Romanenko's tell-all book about Shadow Moses; it more or less {{retcon}}s ''Metal Gear Solid'' into a proxy war between Liquid Snake and the Patriots. It also explains what happened to Nastasha, as well as Jim Houseman, the Secretary of Defense, once Ames finally laid hands on him (hint: he [[YouHaveFailedMe didn't get a medal]]).** Keep calling Otacon on the Tanker, and he'll eventually spill what little he knows about the Patriots, the mystery informant, and other strange things afoot. The immense amount of Codec chatter means that you'll have to ring him up ''many'' times.* AllThereInTheScript: The civil war that Raiden and Solidus Snake participated in is never explicitly named in-game. In the script, it is said to be the Liberian Civil War, which ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' later confirmed.* AlreadyUndoneForYou: Snake is already well ahead of Raiden by the time he swims inside the plant's underbelly, having cut through the oil fence and neutralized all the enemies. Unfortunately, he also took the only elevator up to the surface, momentarily trapping you in the dock with three woozy (and extremely pissed off) guards.* AluminumChristmasTrees: Dead Cell is based on Red Cell, a SEAL division tasked with infiltrating U.S. military bases to test their preparedness. It was originally commanded by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marcinko Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko]], a man whose life, according to ''[[http://www.cracked.com/article_18857_the-6-greatest-war-heroes-who-got-screwed-out-history.html?wa_user1=5&wa_user2=History&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended Cracked]]'', "eerily resembles the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' franchise". Also, just like Dead Cell's commander, Jackson, Marcinko was arrested for supposed misappropriation of government funds, although he never died in prison.* AnAesop: Snake can only console Raiden by saying that nobody can be "told" who they are; you have to figure it out for yourself. Raiden's error was refusing to acknowledge his horrible past, instead submerging himself in an idyllic life which was -- subtly, imperceptibly -- too good to be true. The Patriots admit that they picked Raiden in large part because he refused to confront the truth, unlike the other Liberian vets.* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The game is perhaps the most famous example ever. After the prologue with Solid Snake infiltrating the tank ship is over, the perspective switches over to Raiden two years later as he infiltrates the clean-up facility. Needless to say, none of Snake's inventory carries over and the grip level also resets during the transition.* AntiFrustrationFeature: The EscortMission with Emma can be a pain since she has to be guided and is very vulnerable to gunfire. If you let Emma rest, she'll sit on the floor and slowly recover her health.* AntiHeroSubstitute: Both inverted and subverted. Raiden, a solidly heroic NaiveNewcomer, briefly replaces the AntiHero Solid Snake as the protagonist. As the story goes on, though, it turns out that Raiden has even more of a DarkAndTroubledPast than Snake does, and has far more psychological problems.* ArcWords: ** The Colonel and others reminding Raiden of his "role".** "He's not a part of the simulation. He's [[SpannerInTheWorks an unknown factor.]]"* ArmchairMilitary: During the tanker mission, footage of RAY is being broadcast on closed circuit TV to the Marine Corps brass. Snake, now soggy from the rain, grumbles that they're probably sitting in a nice, dry office with some hot coffee.* ArtificialBrilliance:** Snake's offscreen heroics give the impression of him being some kind of Superman, and the Tengu battle doesn't disappoint. Snake will toss ammo and rations if you're low, unleash a 360° crescent kick when he's surrounded, plug enemy soldiers with pinpoint accuracy, and probably rival you in kills. On Very Easy and Easy, he can actually win the entire Tengu fight for you. ** Enemy guards can actually see your shadow around corners, forcing you to take the dynamic lighting into account.* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: The Tanker chapter's portrayal of the U.S. Marines' uniforms, jargon, etc. isn't even ''close'' to accurate. * AsYouKnow: Although he doesn't use this exact phrase, Otacon gives Snake a rather redundant lecture at the beginning of the Tanker chapter helpfully informing Snake who he's working for and what they do.* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Genola is back, reappearing as the final boss in Snake's minigames; the gargantuan solider previously appeared in ''Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions''. Joining him are Gurlugon, a giant Gurlukovich solider covered with Franchise/{{Godzilla}} spines, and Mecha Genola. * AttackItsWeakPoint: ** At the time of release [=UAVs=] had only seen limited action in the Gulf War, and were still under development by the U.S. military. The Cyphers encountered by Snake are more fragile -- and [[MadeOfExplodium prone to exploding]] -- than real-life drones, with an oversized camera to target and shoot, but the principle is the same.** Gun cameras can be disabled with bullets this time, rather than wasting Stingers. The cartridge on the back of the gun is your sweet spot.*** The gun cypher will lose all will to live when you shoot the cartridge, and spontaneously blow up rather than deactivate. ** Fatman's blast suit leaves him completely invulnerable save for his bald head.** RAY is vulnerable when the jaw is open, either by preparing its water cannon or Raiden {{knee capping}} it with missiles. The same goes for the Tengu, who can block bullets head-on but are helpless to defend their knees. ** The slow method of defeating Gurlugon involves shooting at its head, torso and limbs until you've exposed the targets inside them (they look just like the shooting range targets from earlier). The limbs grow right back, so you have to be quick. Mecha Genola is weirder: [[LosingYourHead His head flies off]] when you shoot it, so Snake must avoid its shots and knock it into a side pocket like a billiard ball. * AwesomeYetImpractical: [[spoiler:Arsenal Gear, according to Solidus. It requires other Metal Gears to guard it along with an army to actually maintain it. Without the requirements to support it, "Arsenal is nothing more than a gigantic coffin"]].* BackTracking:** Hope you like the Strut F warehouse, because you'll be seeing a ''lot'' of it.** After Emma is rescued, Raiden is told to bring her back to Shell 1's computer room, located on the opposite end of the plant. This proves difficult as Fatman's bombs and [=RAY=] have reduced the whole structure to shambles.** Averted toward the end of the game, thankfully.* BackFromTheDead: Vamp hearts this. Also [[spoiler:Liquid... maybe]].* BackToBackBadasses: Raiden and [[spoiler:Snake]] get one at the end of the game in [[spoiler:Arsenal Gear while fighting off hordes of Tengus.]]* BadassBoast: Olga, "Conflict and victory were my parents!"** Vamp too: "Still ticking huh?" "Unfortunately, hell had no vacancies."* TheBadGuyWins: The Patriots are the actual villains in ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', and it is implied that thanks to Raiden, they actually get away scot free. [[spoiler:Though the [=S3=] data was presumed destroyed by Emma's worm cluster, the Patriots succeeded in downloading all of it before the servers went down. The worm, however, did delete any information about the Wisemen's Committee, the 12 people who supposedly head the Patriots.]]* BadMoonRising: Sergei Gurlukovich noticed that the moon was pale as death in the storm, suspecting that the mission was going to end very badly. [[spoiler:He was right.]]* BagOfSpilling: One part justified, since Snake's operations are always procure-on-site; one part averted, since Snake still has the infinite bandana from the previous game, and even points it out as such.** He also carries the USP he acquired in the tanker chapter in the plant chapter.* BarbieDollAnatomy: Raiden, prior to the SceneryCensor sequence, although [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=5yun-vC1wuA#t=1m28s a certain Easter egg implies the guards of the game might see it differently]].* BattleInTheRain: Double subverted. The rain stops just as the Olga fight is about to commence. She takes a moment to smarm about how pretty the skyline is right before attacking, at which point the rain starts back up again.* BerserkButton: It's not a very good idea to refer to yourself as Solid Snake when the real one is within earshot, albeit in a very cheap disguise.* BigApplesauce: The game takes place almost entirely in the Lower New York Bay, with the final battle fought in the heart of Wall Street. * BigBad: Solidus Snake [[spoiler: The Patriots are the true big bad, manipulating the events and playing with their tragedies. Solidus is a pawn, an AntiVillain. Their chief agent Revolver Ocelot is TheHeavy. The seemingly possessed Liquid Ocelot is TheStarscream.]]* BigNo:** Solidus is good at delivering these.** A handcuffed Snake yells this at RAY when it trains its crosshairs on him. [[spoiler:Liquid overhears this and takes over Ocelot's hand, preventing him from pulling the trigger.]] Ocelot, now at his wit's end, screams "No!" right back.* BiggerIsBetterInBed[=/=]InformedAttribute: As noted in the subsection of BarbieDollAnatomy, the guards, when inspecting Raiden in the stomach area, will mention that he wishes he had that in reference to Raiden Junior (even though his model doesn't actually have genitalia).* BlackAndGreyMorality: ** ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' is one of the more morally ambiguous stories in the series. Though the Sons of Liberty's methods are extreme, the conspiracy they're fighting against is very real. The epilogue leaves the question hanging of whether the world is a better place without Solidus. ** As his name suggests, Solidus is "neither Solid nor Liquid", combining Solid Snake's idealism with Liquid's absolutist philosophy. There is also some ideological conflict amongst the terrorists regarding how far they'll go to achieve their ends; Solidus' faction wants to seal off Manhattan island with as little violence as possible, while the Dead Cell side considers the civilian population legitimate targets.** Ames and Johnson are obvious stand-ins for ''[=MGS1=]''[='=]s shady hostages. Whereas the DARPA Chief and Baker were both corrupt, ''[=MGS2=]'' is a bit murkier: Ames is indirectly responsible for the publication of Nastasha's book about Shadow Moses, costing him Brownie points with the Patriots. Johnson is [[spoiler: a collaborator with the Sons of Liberty]], but changes his mind once he realizes that Solidus doesn't want to join the Patriots but dismantle them. Johnson, fearing a power vacuum that will tear the country apart, immediately switches sides and hands Raiden the tools he needs to take Solidus out (note that [[spoiler:Raiden is still technically an agent of the Patriots]] at this point. Johnson has not undergone a "face turn" but merely chosen the option that does the least harm to his country).* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Scott Dolph in the Tanker chapter, though he shares credit with Sergei since they get shot simultaneously. [[spoiler:In the Plant chapter, Stillman]] is the first lead character to perish.* BlindIdiotTranslation:** Although most of the script was kept intact, or at least decently translated, they were notably off the mark in regards to one of Emma's parrot's statements. In the English version, the parrot says "Venus in Cancer". A more accurate translation would have been "Venusian Crab" referring to a character in ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'', and implying that Emma was supposed to be a B-movie fan.** The non-English translations got it specially bad. There were a lot of mistranslated sentences in almost every language, other sentences that were kept in English, and some times sentences that gave ''wrong'' information about what the player needed to do next.** [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/metalgear/agnesskaku.htm This interview]] explains how the game's localization was basically a big clusterfuck.* BombDisposal: To Stillman's credit, he's not about to let a couple "[[DiscussedTrope amateurs]]" go around defusing bombs. Instead, he forks over a pair of coolant tanks to freeze the [=C4=] solid, putting them out of commission until a real disposal team can arrive.* BootstrappedTheme: The ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' rendition by Harry Gregson-Williams became the official theme of the series. It was originally composed, under the name "Winter Road" and as part of an extended lyrical romance on the poems of Pushkin, by Georgy Sviridov; from there, it was lifted without attribution by Tappi "TAPPY" Iwase, and heard in the opening of ''Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions''. Silicon Knights also inserted it into their [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] remake of ''[=MGS1=]''.* BoringButPractical: You get an M9 tranquilizer pistol at the beginning of the game. You'll be using it a lot (the Coolant canister will also do in a pinch).* BorrowedBiometricBypass: To gain access to the Shell 1 core, Raiden must place an enemy in a chokehold and bring him to the door's retinal scanner, which only works if the enemy is alive and conscious.* BossArenaIdiocy:** Solidus' heat-seekers can't maneuver around obstacles; simply hanging from a ledge will neutralize the blast.** Subverted with Olga: Snake is actually at a disadvantage this time, since all of the obstacles rest on her side of the deck.** The sediment pool is unveiled as an ingenious trap. Actually, it's a pretty damn avoidable pit with large fencing around it, and Vamp spends way more time in it then you do. Raiden can deplete Vamp's stamina and 02 by lobbing explosives into the drink, forcing him to come up for air.** Each of the VR bosses, particularly Genola. He's standing under a giant tub of flour which, when the platform's legs are shot off, falls on Genola's head and knocks him out cold.* BossCorridor:** The lower deck of the ''Discovery'' is a straight shot to the holds, where RAY awaits. RAY isn't fought (you'll have to wait [[FinalBossPreview until the end of the game]] for that), but Snake eventually runs into an enemy patrol headed in the opposite direction.** A couple of areas become boss corridors when Raiden revisits them, with a suspicious absence of enemies who were once omnipresent, such the Dock and Helipad. ** Solidus meets you halfway on the connecting bridge after Raiden dismantles all of the explosives.** The final cylindrical tube in Arsenal Gear, right before Raiden's Skull Suit and equipment is returned to him. What awaits beyond the door is an extended shootout/sword battle with the Tengu troops, followed by boss fights with Solidus and his pack of [=RAYs=].* {{Bowdlerization}}: Thanks to the game's release unfortunately coinciding around the immediate aftermath of 9/11, several scenes and dialogue were removed from the game. Among the things cut included Liquid Ocelot stating that he ''[[MoralEventHorizon intentionally]]'' set Arsenal to crash into Manhattan, the entirety of the crash sequence, Raiden cutting the American flag and having it drift down onto Solidus's corpse, and a news report about the Art/StatueOfLiberty resting on Ellis Island. Most of these were kept in the novelization, however.* BrandX: Otacon uses his own pet software to download RAY's photos, to avoid backdoor spying by the U.S., complete with an office assistant icon which looks like him. Even so, Otacon can't resist quipping, "So, any Codec moments from you, Snake?"* BrickJoke: During the Tanker section Otacon tells Snake that Pentazemin has the added effect of curing sea sickness, only to admit he was lying to gauge the placebo effect. Years later during the Plant, Snake explains the properties of Pentazemin and adds that it won't cure sea sickness, much to Raiden's confusion. * BriefcaseFullOfMoney[=/=]EmptyQuiver: In the Transformer room near the beginning of Raiden's story, he and Plisskin comes across a dead Navy Captain with a broken handcuff. Mr. X claims he was carrying a nuclear football, stolen by the terrorists. Later, Johnson explains that it's not a bomb, but the launch key to Arsenal Gear, and [[spoiler:it wasn't stolen from the President; he handed it over willingly.]]* TheBrigadier: Lieutenant J. G. Pliskin, or so it seems.* BrokenBridge:** The paths to the Tanker's engine room are blocked by [[LockedDoor faulty door controls]]. After you beat Olga on the deck, her men finish repairing the doors.** Fortune zaps one of two bridges leading to the Shell 1 Core, and the hostages, with her rail gun (the other door to the core is broken and never repaired). Solidus does the same to the connecting bridge between Shells 1 and 2: Luckily, Raiden is agile enough to leap across the gap and clamber along the walls of Strut L, though he can't retrace his steps.* BrokenAce: Raiden, and by extension, you by the end of the game.* BrokenMasquerade: It's hard to beat a giant robot manta ray crashing into lower Manhattan. However, the Patriots arrogantly believe they can still [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade spin it to their advantage.]] [[spoiler:They're right]].* BrutalBonusLevel: Determined players who slog through the VR Missions will be rewarded with a playable [=MGS1=] Snake. Like his MSX theme music suggests, his levels are [[NintendoHard a lot harder]], and the final Variety Mission taxes all of the skills you've learned by that point: A deathmatch versus dozens of snipers and guards [[InvisibleMonsters wearing stealth camo]], and ''then'' a duel with Genola, without any rations. All on one life.* ButNotTooBlack: Invoked with Fortune, averted with Stillman. Might have something to do with the real-life people they were based on.* ButThouMust:** When the player first gains controller input over Raiden, he is instructed by the Colonel [[HelloInsertNameHere to type in his name]] (and you can't leave the dock until you do), something ''Metal Gear'' has never done before or since until Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.** During the Tengu assault, the game subtly persuades you to use the ninja sword (there is even an option to "blunt" the sword for pacifist runs). Before long, Raiden loses all of his weapons apart from that blade.* ButtMonkey: Raiden (and, by extension, you) is this by the end of the game.* TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse:** [[spoiler:The Codec transmissions from Rosemary and Colonel Campbell]] are coming inside the Big Shell, and for good reason: they're actually [=AIs=] in Arsenal Gear's computer system. Raiden finds this out when he injects a virus into the plant's computers, [[spoiler:and his contacts suddenly start speaking incomprehensible gobbledygook]] as their systems are scrambled.-->"Raiden, do you copy? You must continue your [[AC:[[ElectronicSpeechImpediment muh-muh-mission]].]]"** As often happens in these games, the "informant" who brought Snake to the Big Shell is hiding somewhere in the plant -- in plain sight, to boot. [[spoiler:It's Liquid, still controlling Ocelot through his transplanted arm]].* CallBack: Almost everything in the Plant chapter is meant to subtly remind the player of the first ''Metal Gear Solid'', and by proxy the first two [=MSX2=] games. By the end of the game, the subtlety gets dropped altogether.** Snake's body was allegedly discovered at the scene of the tanker. When Raiden wonders how they pulled off this caper, Otacon almost gleefully explains that they stole Liquid Snake's body from a government freezer (!!) and planted it there. Apart from the missing arm, nobody could tell the difference. * CantCatchUp:** Much of ''[=MGS2=]''[='=]s humor comes from Raiden constantly being compared to Solid Snake and coming up short ([[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Literally]] in the case of Fortune's taunts), or copying scenes from [=MGS1=] and pratfalling in the most humiliating fashion ([[{{Slapstick}} slipping on bird droppings]]... in ''the first area''). WordOfGod advises players to treat the story as a LowerDeckEpisode.** The very first time we see Snake in the Plant chapter, he's on an elevator with his back turned to the player, showing that Raiden is figuratively and literally beneath him.* CantStopTheSignal: The Tanker chapter, when Otacon reiterates his plans for the RAY photos.-->'''Otacon:''' When the photos are in, we'll put them online and blow this whole thing wide open on the Web.-->'''Snake:''' Don't you think that the authorities will just shut us down?-->'''Otacon:''' Probably. But it won't matter -- there'll be mirror sites spawning within minutes after those images go up. We won't even have to ask; people will be grabbing the pictures. There's no way anyone can stop it.* CartographySidequest: The Soliton Radar won't work until you activate the nerds -- er, nodes! Each Strut has one, and while activating them isn't necessary to progress, it makes locating the [=C4=]s and avoiding detection much easier.* CentralTheme Continuing ''Metal Gear Solid''[='=]s theme of being ruled by your genes, ''Metal Gear Solid 2''[='=]s recurring theme is legacy: ** Scott Dolph and Sergei Gurlukovich did what they thought was best for their country, but their sins ended up being revisited on their daughters.** Solidus and Stillman are both childless middle-aged men, still on the lookout for a surrogate son. (Stillman is an ironic character: he is famed for diffusing bombs, but he unwittingly created a "time bomb" in Fatman.)** The Patriots speak of Americans as children who would rather live in a dream world than confront facts. Since they can't be trusted to transcribe history as it actually happened, the Patriots have decided to do the thinking for us. Instead of a whirling mass of conflicting propaganda, the [=S3=]-controlled internet will have a single voice and vision, ostensibly for the betterment of all. Solidus, Snake, and Raiden are pretty much in agreement that this will destroy the future, not preserve it.* CityOfWeirdos: Hideo Kojima seems to have confused New York with Tokyo: the crowd that gathers at the end of the game seem awfully calm despite the fact that [[spoiler:a huge mobile fortress crashed into Federal Hall as well as the body of the former President of the United States wearing an exoskeleton suit with metal tentacles and a selection of swords lying nearby. This aberration is often used to argue that the entire game was actually a VR sim.]]* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Raiden loses all of his gear and is forced to sneak around in the nude:-->'''Colonel:''' "Raiden, you won't be able to hang, throw, or chokehold anyone in your current state."\\'''Raiden:''' "Why not?"\\'''Colonel:''' "Is it really necessary to ask? It's just not a good idea to perform those maneuvers. There could be... complications."\\'''Rose:''' "Oh really, Jack. Do we have to spell it out for you? Really!"* CompanionCube: Snake and his box.-->'''Snake/Pliskin:''' "Don't think of it as just another box. Treat it with love... Don't be rough. Okay?"* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard:** One of the few canonical examples. [[spoiler:The Patriots have stacked the deck against everyone, even Ocelot]].** On a pure gameplay example, the first fight against Vamp has him swimming in the water to avoid your attacks. He has an O2 meter like the player, but unlike the player, Vamp's life meter won't drain if he runs out of air.* ControllableHelplessness: What Raiden goes through after he's captured. You can wriggle the camera around to your heart's delight, but Raiden won't be released until the game lets him.* CoversAlwaysLie: The box art of ''Sons of Liberty'' features only Snake, making the fact he's a DecoyProtagonist somewhat frustrating to some. Then it got averted as the Japanese art pictured atop the page already includes Raiden besides him, and so does ''Substance''. Indeed, after you complete the game once, Raiden's face replaces Snake's on the title screen.* CreatorCameo: Scott Dolph, the name of the Marine commandant from the tanker section, is actually the name of a Konami employee, a translator.* CrotchGrabSexCheck:** How the ''President of the United States'', of all people, makes sure that Raiden is indeed a man.** This is played for laughs in one of the bonus missions in ''Substance'', where Snake has to find out who killed a group of soldiers, including Raiden. Your first clue is that every soldier around the area is clutching their testicles tightly.* CyberCyclops: The Arsenal-brand [=RAYs=] have a single green eye in place of the Marine Corps' two blue ones. Additionally, Liquid's model is sporting a tail.* CuffsOffRubWrists: A minor gag.* CutAndPasteEnvironments: The VR Missions alternate between using brand-new, minimalist environments and recycling maps from the Plant and Tanker chapters, though with different objectives and enemy placement.* CutsceneIncompetence: Spoileriffic, so read at your own risk:** Snake [[spoiler:disappearing, presumed drowned, at the end of the Tanker mission]] and [[spoiler:getting captured by Fortune offscreen]].*** The first example was originally intended to be averted. Originally the player had to [[spoiler:escape the sinking tanker]] only to fail miserably. Kojima decided to cut this out as he felt its inclusion would ultimately be too sadistic. For some reason, however, a segment of this remained as a flashback in a cutscene.** Emma [[spoiler:''dying via cutscene'' at the end of the EscortMission, despite the fact that the numerous shots the player hit Vamp with should have immobilized him before he could stab Emma in the first place]].** Raiden [[spoiler:destroys up to 20 [=RAYs=] during play, but then gives up when faced with the remaining five]].* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Villainous examples. Vamp hovers over the oxygen-rich sediment pool in a LevitatingLotusPosition; After your brawl with him, he sinks straight to the bottom. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard D'oh.]]** Likewise, Solidus has no problem firing ''[[OffhandBackhand over his shoulder]]'' at a Metal Gear's faceplate, downing it instantly. And yet he has difficulty keeping track of Raiden due to his lost eye...?** When the player has to destroy [=RAYs=], it requires several Stinger missiles aimed at a specific [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]]. In a single cutscene Solidus is somehow able to take down several [=RAYs=] by shooting at them with a P90 submachine gun, and hitting them nowhere near said weak point.* CyberPunk and PostCyberPunk: Most of the game is the former, while the final scenes are the latter.* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The swimming controls involve moving the analog stick up to swim up and down to swim down, the opposite of how similar swimming sequences in other games typically control.* DarkerAndEdgier: Even moreso than ''Metal Gear Solid''. The physical/emotional trauma suffered by Raiden in this game and throughout his life would put even Solid "I Barbecued My Dad" Snake to shame. The atmosphere of the plant relative to the tanker mission is more grim, with a nondescript Game Over screen.** DenserAndWackier: ...Then again, the game caps off with a swordfight against the former President of the United States wearing rocket-powered body armor and a bizarre conspiracy theory-inspired plot about liberating New York from the ghosts of the White House that have manipulated all of Earth's governments. Make of it what you will.--->'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-2YuPGYabw&feature=youtu.be George Weidman]]''': Despite being a series of meta games, no other ''Metal Gear'' has come this close to total absurdity. Snake actually turns on [[CheatCode cheat modes]] right in front of you, and '''the game just rolls with it!'''* DeconstructorFleet:** Viciously tears into [[{{Sequelitis}} sequels]], [[BlankSlate blank slate protagonists]] (overlapping with DeconstructedCharacterArchetype) and [[IJustWantToBeBadass playing video games as power fantasies]], [[RailRoading the concept of linearity in video games]], [[ScrewDestiny free will]], [[{{Postmodernism}} reality vs. fantasy]], [[NoFourthWall video games in general]], and most of all, ''[[ThisLoserIsYou the player]]''. [[PlayerPunch One may feel a bit uneasy when playing this game]].** It even attacks [[Franchise/MetalGear the series itself]], twisting the NurtureOverNature Aesop of the original ''MGS'' into a sinister AncientConspiracy that reshapes people's whole personalities through social engineering. Really puts [[HarsherInHindsight a dark spin]] on Naomi's "people can choose how they live" speech, no?* DecoyProtagonist: Snake in this entry. This is one of the most infamous examples, as everyone expected to be Snake for the entirety of the game.* DevelopersForesight: [[DevelopersForesight.MetalGear See here]].* DiabolusExMachina: Yeah, we know Otacon can't have nice things, but [[spoiler:pulling out the guy who just drowned in zero-buoyancy water who just ''happened'' to have swum out to the edge of the oil fence for no apparent reason, allowing him to unavoidably kill Emma]] was kind of pushing things.* DifficultyByRegion:** The Japanese and European versions added a questionnaire when the player begins a new game that determines not only the difficulty level, but also whether the player begins at the Tanker chapter or skip straight to the Plant chapter. ** The settings are also labeled a bit differently in the Japanese version, with the Japanese Easy being "Very Easy" everywhere else and so on (except for [[HarderThanHard Extreme]]).* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Solidus's final scene has him falling off Federal Hall shortly after his duel with Raiden]]. Played with, as he was already mortally wounded beforehand [[spoiler:courtesy of Raiden slicing open his back]].* DistaffCounterpart:** Olga can been seen as another wry deconstruction of ''[=MGS1=]'', this time of Meryl Silverburgh: a helpless rookie in panties who looks like she belongs anywhere else but in a war zone. Olga is closer to how a feminized Snake would look and act; neglecting razors and growling out one-liners, killing with restraint but no mercy. ** On the flip side of that, Meryl and Raiden begin their stories from the same state of play: Raiden is a giant FOXHOUND fanboy and a pretender to Snake's throne and, like Meryl, has an emotional breakdown after killing his first Gurlukovich mook. Note that when first encountering Vamp, Snake barks at Raiden, “Shoot him! What are you waiting for!” This is practically the same thing he tells Meryl in Shadow Moses during the prison shootout.* DownTheDrain: A rare double whammy, considering it's paired with an EscortMission.* DrivingQuestion: ** Who are the Patriots? Not answered for two more games, but this one was the first to ask and gave it the most attention.** "Do you know what day it is today?"* DummiedOut:** Some unused speech and a strange video showing a news report about the displaced Art/StatueOfLiberty remain from the post-9/11 removal of the Arsenal Gear/New York collision. Unlike the rest of the things edited out due to 9/11, this never resurfaced anywhere, not even in the novelization.** The [=FAMAS=] assault rifle from ''Metal Gear Solid'' is in the game, but can only be acquired via a [=GameShark=]; originally it was to be found in the Tanker chapter.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:E-H]]

* EaglelandOsmosis: In this case, the "tired, poor, huddled masses" would be Gurlukovich and his troops. Ironically, with the death of their Colonel, the unit has nowhere else to go, and winds up working for the former U.S. President. Sergei, somewhat hypocritically, plots to dump his pregnant daughter in enemy territory, reassuring her,-->'''Sergei:''' Do not worry; this is a country of "liberty."* EarlyGameHell: Slightly. You start the Plant Chapter without any firearms, so it is very difficult to defend yourself when in a gunfight. Finding the silenced tranquilizer and getting the SOCOM makes the game much easier though.* EasingIntoTheAdventure: Much of Otacon's briefing on the Tanker mission is rendered null by the appearance of the Russian boarding party. Even so, Snake is still armed with a silenced tranquilizer pistol (Otacon did not anticipate this being a life-or-death scenario), and has plenty of flexibility under cover of night.* EliteMooks: Solidus' Hi-Tech Army halfway through the game and the Tengu Commandos in Arsenal Gear.* EmergingFromTheShadows: Snake in the bowels of Arsenal Gear. He's wearing his classic Sneaking Suit again, and if you brought him the electric razor earlier, he's now clean-shaven.* EscortMission: Emma, with a hell of a PlayerPunch at the end of it.* EveryBulletIsATracer: When bullets are fired at Fortune, their paths are visible so you can see that she deflects them.* EveryoneIsATomato: The whole cast is working for the Patriots in some fashion: the Big Shell's staff are hired guns who routinely [[spoiler:truck in more petroleum to replace the sludge they've cleaned up]], the [=SEALs=] are used as ballast, Dead Cell are [[spoiler:stand-ins for Liquid Snake's forces]], the hostages within the Plant are both [[spoiler:Patriot-aligned spies]], and Solid Snake and Otacon are useful dupes. More creepily, [[spoiler:everyone in Raiden's life is a government plant, and his CO doesn't actually exist]].* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Arsenal Gear is a literal freezer, as befitting a giant CPU controlling multiple [=RAYs.=]* {{Expy}}: Purposely invoked. Every character in ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' maps to someone in the first game one way or another.* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The Tanker chapter takes place over the course of a few hours, and the Plant chapter takes place within a single day. There's a TimeSkip of two years in between them, however.* FalseFlagOperation: ** The oil spill off the shores of Manhattan is entirely the fault of wanted fugitive Solid Snake, who heartlessly struck a Naval vessel while it was out performing maneuvers, killing himself and the entire crew. It's a pretty good hatchet job. [[spoiler:A duplicate tanker was lying in wait and sunk in the exact same spot, creating the oil spill Snake supposedly caused.]]** According to Stillman, [[spoiler:none of the C4s are planted in logical locations]], that is, assuming your intention is to actually to sink the whole place. This is a double bluff: Dead Cell was a unit designed by Solidus to drill rookies (like Raiden) with [[ChekhovsSkill simulated terror attacks]].*** The "baby" C4's won't destroy the plant, however the main C4'that are activated when babies go off, will sink the whole area.** The events that happen on the Tanker and Big Shell [[spoiler:are scripted by the Patriots]], though few of the participants know it (Ames dies the moment [[HisNameIs he starts to piece it together]]).** Johnson freely admits that [[spoiler:he was cooperating with the Sons of Liberty from the beginning and staged]] his own kidnapping, delivering a nuclear suitcase straight into the hands of terrorists.** Unlike with Liquid's insurrection, Solidus isn't interested in receiving his ransom: the nuclear strike is going ahead regardless, and Dead Cell is to be forfeited in the counter-attack. Solidus' real objective is to fry Manhattan's electrical grid before turning it into his private fiefdom (à la ''Escape from New York''). * FanService: The pin-up posters littered around the game.** Some may also consider Raiden's [[spoiler:naked scene at the game's climax to be this]].* FanDisservice: Olga's hairy armpits in the Tanker chapter.* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: ** Not only the [[ItWasHisSled infamous]] [[DecoyProtagonist main character switcheroo]], but the entire events of the prologue chapter:** This includes Sergei Gurlukovich being double-crossed by Revolver Ocelot and his subsequent death, Liquid's [[BackFromTheDead return]] through the use of Revolver Ocelot's possessed arm, the death of Marine Corps Commandant Scott Dolph, Ocelot escaping with Metal Gear RAY, Snake's [[FakingTheDead apparent death]] at sea and ''[[WhamEpisode finally]]'' [[DecoyProtagonist replacement with a FOXHOUND rookie codenamed Raiden]].* FissionMailed: TropeNamer.* FiveBadBand:** BigBad: Solidus.** TheDragon: Ocelot.** TheBrute: Vamp.** TheEvilGenius: Fatman.** TheDarkChick: Fortune.* FiveRoundsRapid: The Marine towards the end of Snake's portion of the game who fires at Metal Gear RAY with a handgun. A '''handgun''' against a walking tank designed to withstand anti-tank rounds. It's an act of such utter stupidity that one of his fellow Marines shoves him aside with what looks like contempt to take a shot with his grenade launcher (not much better a choice of weapon, but still a smarter choice than a bloody pistol).* FixedCamera: Some spots have the camera fixed in perfect Metal Gear fashion.* FlunkyBoss: Mecha Genola dispatches tiny, [[{{Creator/NINTENDO}} R.O.B.]]-like replicas of itself by parachute.* FlushingEdgeInteractivity: Features urinals that flush whenever the player leaves them.* ForgottenAnniversary: Rose is constantly nagging about "do you remember what day it is?"... [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Must be her birthday.]] WordOfGod stated that this was based on Kojima's own experiences with his wife. He does eventually remember that it's [[spoiler:the anniversary of when he met Rose]] during the ending, however, and she's genuinely happy that he remembered it.* {{Foreshadowing}}: ** ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' has effectively the highest ratio of foreshadowing of any ''Metal Gear'' game. Nearly everything in the plot is foreshadowed in dialogue over Codec and in cutscenes well before the actual various reveals in-game, though it takes a second playthrough to catch all the subtle nuances of the foreshadowing.** During the Tanker chapter, Liquid Ocelot taunts Snake by telling him that he is "drowning in time." The meaning behind these cryptic words isn't explicitly revealed until ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' (although the script for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' that was included in ''The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2'' does attribute it to accelerated aging).** In his briefing, the Colonel reflects on how the tanker was loaded with crude oil when it sunk. [[spoiler:Funny how Snake didn't come across '''ANY''' oil while journeying through the ship's holds.]]** Raiden is briefed on Ames' identity and location while standing at a helipad. [[spoiler:Everything that follows is a replay of ''Metal Gear Solid'' Disc 1]]:### He tracks down Ames (who [[spoiler:dies immediately]] after being rescued) using an electronic tracer.### He encounters Ocelot while rescuing the President (who also [[spoiler:dies suddenly]]).### He disables an electrified floor to reach a computer whiz by the name of Emmerich in the plant's basement.### He watches helplessly as Emma is wounded and engages Vamp in a pitched sniper mission### At long last, he's strapped to a table by Snake's clone and tortured for information, whereupon he must hunt around for creative routes of escape. [[spoiler:By this point, the game drops the act and just plops Raiden into an old [=MGS1=] environment.]]\\\These plot beats are juxtaposed with bosses (Fatman, Harrier, and Vamp twice) referencing the layout and mechanics of [[spoiler:the Shadow Moses battles: namely Raven, Hind-D, Mantis, and Wolf.]]** Look again. The Big Shell is quite literally a {{palette swap}} [[spoiler:of the Shadow Moses map, with the same wall textures and door controls]]. ** Ames is a bit too chummy with Raiden, and assumes they're working for the same side. Stillman is more wary of him, putting his faith in Pliskin instead.** It becomes apparent that Raiden's life [[spoiler:makes absolutely no sense. Raiden, a rookie with no prior field experience, is chosen as the pointman for a joint rescue of the President. He's affiliated with FOXHOUND, even though the unit was disbanded. He also admits he's never actually met the Colonel.]]** After [[spoiler:learning the truth about who her father's murderer was, and is shot before she could avenge him during Ocelot's speech]], Fortune attempts to fire two retaliatory rounds from her rail gun at Ocelot, who is immune thanks to having either Fortune's device itself or a copy of it. In a Codec conversation with the Colonel and Rose, they explain that Fortune's rail gun was a prototype that didn't go into mass production mode due to various bugs in its rail plasma and the inner rail electromagnetic release that have yet to be solved. In fact, because of these errors, evaluations existed that criticized it as an unacceptable weapon due to the high risk of the gun backfiring on the user. It was heavily implied that the only reason why Fortune was capable of using it without fear of it backfiring was because of her ability to deflect bullets, which gives an early clue that either Fortune's power's source: [[spoiler:a device consisting of electromagnetic fields for deflecting weaponry and shorting out grenades]] was reactivated, or her powers didn't stem entirely from that device, if one even existed. This was later proven when she managed to deflect the bulk of [=RAY=]'s attacks even after [[spoiler:Ocelot demonstrated that the device supposedly behind the powers was turned off by shooting her in the chest]].** After having played the game through and going through a second time, many of the more subtle hints that [[spoiler:the Colonel is actually an AI become apparent. For example, after the death of President Johnson, immediately after the player leaves the Codec-shielded room he was in, the Colonel calls and already knows everything about what happened (even though he has to be "told" the President is dead) and orders Raiden to honor the President's last order.]]** Speaking of the President, his ultimate fate is a premonition for what will happen to Raiden. Johnson realizes the bogus nature of his surroundings, but can do nothing because, as a piece on a chessboard (or character in a video game), he can't pull the plug or even exit the game. When Raiden reaches Federal Hall, he calls up his masters and threatens to let Solidus go scot free; the Patriots remind him that [[spoiler:Olga's child will die]] unless he complies. The only way to stop the "simulation," in this case, would be to turn the game console off! In ''The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2'', Kojima has this to say of Johnson's [[spoiler:death]]:--->''"Realizing that the terrorist plot was being used to the advantage of the Patriots’ S3 Plan, the President has lost all hope. [[spoiler:He completes his pre-planned role in the S3 Plan by acting out his own demise]] before Raiden. This development acts as a metaphor to foreshadow developments in the player’s relationships later in the game."''** [[spoiler:Snake's bandana]] when he makes his appearance on the Arsenal Gear provides a hint for something confirmed ''2 games'' later in the series: [[spoiler:the canon survival of Meryl]].** The Colonel will frequently chide Raiden that certain things (such as Pliskin's appearance) did not "factor into the simulation". The Colonel seems to mean a VR simulation of the mission that Raiden went through prior to the real thing. [[spoiler:He's actually talking about the S3 Plan. Pliskin/Snake and Otacon are rogue elements]].** Raiden getting a High-Frequency Blade during the game's final act foreshadows his transformation into a cyborg ninja for his [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots next]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance two appearances]].** The reveal of [[spoiler:Pliskin actually being Solid Snake]] was apparently ''supposed'' to be [[TheUnreveal seen coming a mile away]], so most of the actual hints towards it are about as subtle as a brick through a plate glass window. Even this manages one hint most wouldn't pick up on immediately, however: [[spoiler:when Pliskin is disarmed of his M4 by Vamp during their joint first appearance, Raiden is able to take up that gun and fire at Vamp with it - in spite of the fact that all battlefield weapons have biometric scanners that prevent anyone but their keyed user from firing them, which is more or less the entire reason Raiden later has to find an unclaimed AK in the armory as part of a disguise to infiltrate the core.]]* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: There cannot even be said to be a fourth wall. The second and third are barely holding up as is.-->'''Johnson:''' Merely puppets! Pawns in a game.* FrameUp: Vamp implies that Dead Cell was actually framed for the terrorist attacks it supposedly committed by the Patriots. He also hinted that they did try to clear their names, but they couldn't convince the public. In addition, Jackson, the former leader of the unit, was also framed for misappropriating funds.** For that matter, Snake is the one who catches all the blame for the tanker's destruction, assisted by pictures taken via drone, though in his case, he is then presumed killed in the same incident. [[spoiler:Later on, Rose says they exhumed [[TwinSwitch 'Snake's]] [[DeadPersonImpersonation body']], and except for a missing arm, his DNA was a match]].* FreelookButton: This is where the westernization of ''Metal Gear'' starts to creep in. The camera is still a fixed overhead view, but the freelook button is absolutely essential for moving about the plant without being caught.* GainaxEnding: [[Synopsis/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty An extremely prominent example.]] The ending is written to confuse the player a lot whether what Raiden sees in New York City are real or not. [[spoiler:Snake popping out of nowhere for no reason after you kill Solidus, and Rosemary suddenly standing in front of you talking about changing the future.]] These could have been an illusion if it were not TheStinger that reveals that everything you've been through is indeed real, and the fact that certain plot-vital sequences had to be cut [[TooSoon after 9/11]] didn't help at all! Needless to say, ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' is the single most confusing game in the ''Metal Gear'' franchise.* GambitPileup: Every single character in the game (except Raiden) has a complex agenda and backstory at work and is attempting to do more than they initially let on.* GameBreakingBug: The [=PS3=] ''HD Edition'', when played at standard definition in PAL regions, had a glitch which rendered the game impossible to complete on higher difficulties. Patch 1.02 eventually fixed it.* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: When Raiden has to escort Emma through some areas immerged in water, she's justifiably scared, so Raiden tells her to concentrate on his heart beat to calm herself down. Taking some Pentazemin before said underwater sections will cause Emma's O2 gauge to deplete slower, as Raiden's heart is beating slower.* GameplayAndStorySegregation: During cutscenes, weapons that the player has equipped with a suppressor will still be as loud as if they were unsilenced. Might be GameplayAndStorySegregation combined with an [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of {{Hollywood Silencer}}s, except the same happens if the player equips the M9 before entering the cutscene, at which point it will take the place of the SOCOM in cutscenes it's used in, where it will fire semi-automatically (it's slide-locked) as loud as the SOCOM (it has a suppressor from the start) while drawing blood when people are actually hit with it (it's a tranquilizer gun).* AGlitchInTheMatrix: Played with in Arsenal Gear. As Raiden's objectives start to break down, so too do his surroundings: For instance, if you exit and reenter the phony [[spoiler:[=MGS1=] torture room]] in Arsenal's "Stomach", the name of the location will change to random street addresses, including New York 52nd Street and Funabashi City.* GoneHorriblyRight: The fly in this particular soup is Ocelot -- [[spoiler:now dubbed "Liquid Ocelot" after his transplanted arm, freshly-taken from Liquid Snake's body. The Big Shell was meant to reenact Liquid Snake's failed revolution, with Solidus/Raiden in Liquid/Solid's place. When Liquid]] commandeers Ocelot (and Ray) in the finale, the "testing arena" spins out of control and runs aground in Lower Manhattan. Now [[spoiler:Liquid Ocelot]] is free, and at large.* GoodOldFisticuffs: Unlike the other {{Giant Mook}}s, Genola does not use projectiles to attack you, instead using his fists of fury (even though there's a FAMAS glued to his mitten).* GottaCatchThemAll: ** The dog tags, with ''every single difficulty setting'' having its own set. ** Also, Fatman's bombs. There will be extra ones hidden in the hard difficulties, oh joy.* GovernmentConspiracy: The ''[[spoiler:real]]'' S3 Plan, and generally who keeps the President in line.* GrandTheftPrototype: More Metal Gear prototypes getting seized by washed-up members of FOXHOUND. What are the odds? * GroinAttack:** Olga hits Raiden with a particularly nasty one.** Also implied in one of the VR missions to be one of the cause of various soldiers' death. [[spoiler:It's a hint as to the identity of the murderer]].** The tranquilizing M9 above Very Easy mode will only instantly sedate a (non-boss) target when they're shot in one of two places: the head, or the crotch.* HandshakeRefusal: Stillman reacts this way upon being introduced to Pliskin.* HarderThanHard:** The long-delayed PAL release of ''Sons of Liberty'' was the first [=MGS=] to offer "European Extreme" on top of Extreme, which enhanced the guards' cone of vision so they could spot you from any distance. The restrictions from [=MGS1=]'s Extreme mode still apply: lower carrying capacity, [[TooAwesomeToUse fewer rations]], items don't respawn, insta-kill boss attacks, and loads and loads of torture; however it also introduced the "Game Over If Discovered" checkbox, which is helpful when chasing the hallowed "Big Boss" ranking.** In the HD re-release, the torture sequence on Extreme was cut by 2/3 because the original was just too punishing. (Splitting the diamond in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' is a cakewalk comparatively.)** The higher difficulties also throw in more [=Metal Gear RAYs=] to fight. The Extreme RAY battle is one of the most grueling endurance tests of the series, easily. * HaveANiceDeath: In a nice nod to canon, Snake and Otacon treat the Tanker mission almost as small potatoes, even coming equipped with their gear from Shadow Moses. If you net a 'Game Over', Otacon will assume Snake is farting around or trying to pull his chain ("Stop kidding around!"), implying that gamers ought to know their way around [=MGS=] by now.* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: The Plant chapter starts off with a very lengthy re-tutorial of all the stuff you likely already know, and in a more clunky fashion than the organic way it was presented in the Tanker. Some have theorized that this is deliberate, and not just for those skipping to the plant chapter: if the Tanker is presented as what a good sequel would be like, then the Plant starts off as what a ''bad'' sequel would look like, one trying to ape the success of the original. Since a big part of [=MGS=]2 is a commentary on sequels in general this is probably on purpose. [[spoiler:It's also grist to the mill for the fan theory that the Plant chapter is a VR simulation: the more clunky and video-gamey tutorializing in the Plant chapter may be a hint that it's much closer to a video game in-universe than the Tanker chapter.]]** Another really weird, MindScrew version appears in the dialogue in the intro: if you're coming over from the Tanker chapter, the Colonel tells Raiden that he's completed 300 stealth VR missions. If you're starting the game from the Plant fresh, the Colonel skips that part and just tells you this will be your first sneaking mission.* {{Headdesk}}: Played for drama by [[spoiler:Otacon, who appears to take his stepsister's death well-ish but suddenly [[TearJerker breaks into this]] before Snake tells him to get it together]].* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Snake/Raiden will occasionally bump into a headbanger mook who is distracted by his CD player. There's one in the holds of the Tanker, and another loitering in the parcel room shortly before Arsenal rises.* HeroicBSOD:** [[spoiler:Otacon suffers one after losing Emma.]]** Raiden suffered one as well when it was slowly becoming apparent that [[spoiler:he was being used as a test subject.]]* HiddenInPlainSight[=/=]WhereItAllBegan: ** Most of the Fatman chapter is wasted on a wild goose chase. The real bomb is located [[spoiler:in the Shell 1 docks]], precisely where [[spoiler:Raiden first surfaced]] at the mission's start (it's glued to [[spoiler:the minisub]] on most difficulties, and in a corner on Extreme).** The final [=C4=] bomb is located in the last place you'd expect: [[spoiler:directly under the corpse of Fatman]].** Arsenal Gear is chained to the foundation of the Big Shell. The placement is so brazen that Raiden does a literal {{double take}} when Johnson reveals it.* HighTechHexagons: ** Hexagons are a recurring pattern throughout the story. The title sequence is full of them. The skins on Arsenal Gear and Raiden's suit exude a hexagonal pattern. The Big Shell's outer buildings are hexagonal, and the shells themselves form a double hexagon. But it gets ''really'' extreme once Raiden enters Arsenal Gear. ** The game's original packaging had a hexagonal pattern on the back of it, so did the [=PS2=] disc. Most official supplemental materials (strategy guides, concept art, making-of materials) had either subtle or blatant hexagonal themes. In fact, since ''[=MGS2=] '', hexagonal design has been a really big thing to them.* HijackedByGanon: Toyed with near the end of the game when [[spoiler:Ocelot]] reveals himself as a Patriot spy. The scene plays out with [[spoiler:Ocelot]] becoming the most immediate threat to the heroes and former main villains, only for the action to be doubly hijacked by [[spoiler:Liquid through possessing Ocelot]]. However, it's ultimately avoided when [[spoiler:Liquid]] escapes, leaving the role of antagonist back with Solidus and the Patriots.* HongKongDub: Despite the game's Japanese origin, the Japanese ''HD Edition'' suffers from poor lip-synching problem not present in the original ''Sons of Liberty'' release. This was due to the fact that the ''HD Edition'' is based on the ''Substance'' edition, which only had English voice acting (even in Japan). Developer Bluepoint Games simply overlaid the Japanese voice acting into the English-speaking cutscenes without taking into account the different lip movement.* HonorBeforeReason: Solidus during the final battle. He could have easily just killed Raiden while he was unarmed (and handcuffed), not even give him a chance to defend himself, but he instead decides to just fight him in a swordfight.* HypercompetentSidekick: Pliskin. Justified, [[spoiler:since he's actually Solid Snake]] (technically, Pliskin's more like a mentor to Raiden than an actual sidekick, but still).* HyperspaceArsenal: Somehow our heroes are able to carry around a grenade launcher, a stinger missile launcher, ammunition for all their guns and several cardboard boxes large enough to hide under, all in skintight clothing with no substantial pockets.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:I-P]]

* IceCreamKoan: During the Tanker chapter, Otacon imitates Mei Ling and reads Chinese proverbs after the player saves, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5-vr1VeNSg mangles their meaning in the most hilarious way.]]* IJustWantToBeBadass: Raiden (and the Tanker chapter's plot) deconstructs this pretty savagely. So, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor you want to be just like Solid Snake, huh?]]* IReadItForTheArticles: Implied by Pliskin's description of the magazine in an optional Codec call.-->'''Pliskin:''' Look... aside from its educational value, you can probably use it to distract an enemy...* IncrediblyObviousBomb: ** Yet another lampshade. This time it's Fatman's baby [=C4=]s, which blink intermittently and emit a loud beep. Stillman crafts a detector which is set to them, and is taken aback at how easy it all is. [[spoiler:Later, we learn [[KansasCityShuffle the real bomb is odorless ''and'' silent.]]]]** There's also the semtex explosives and their control units. One flickers yellow, and the other glows green.* InjuredPlayerCharacterStage: Near the end of the game Raiden is captured and has his clothes and items taken from him. He is forced to sneak through the next section naked and unable to defend himself, and contracts a cold due to the low temperatures, which causes him to sneeze periodically, potentially alerting nearby guards.* InterfaceScrew: ** PlayedForLaughs when the Colonel's [[spoiler:A.I. goes on the fritz]]. While Raiden is stumbling around naked in the heart of Arsenal Gear, surrounded by death on all sides, his goddamned Soliton Radar is replaced with [[spoiler:a lascivious video feed of a Japanese model,]] suggesting that the Colonel's addled mind is elsewhere.** Since [[spoiler:the Colonel and Rosemary]] are not flesh-and-blood people but rather AIs, [[spoiler:their Codec portraits are actually CGI effects]]. Once Emma uploads her computer virus, [[spoiler:Rose's eyes go ghostly white and the Colonel's face turns transparent, exposing the skull beneath.]]** After Raiden boards Arsenel, the in-game map is replaced with a stencil drawing of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Turtle World Turtle.]] This of course is an allusion to Arsenal holding up the 'world' ([[spoiler:the Big Shell]]) high above.* InTheHood: Solid Snake is wearing a slicker in the opening cutscene.* InformedAbility: For a supposed REX-killer, the Arsenal RAY model is quite fragile and doesn't hold up to more than three stinger missiles or, in Solidus' case, automatic weapons fire. It's possible that the green [=RAYs=] aren't as strong as the camo one the Marines built. We finally do see REX square off against RAY in ''Guns of the Patriots'' - [[spoiler:the nine-years-abandoned REX still defeats the dedicated REX-killer RAY, but it's at least a longer and closer battle]].* InterServiceRivalry: Plays a big role in the backstory. Apparently, [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid the mass proliferation of Metal Gear's designs]] led all of the branches of the U.S. military to attempt to develop their own versions of Metal Gear (the Army has REX, the Marines have RAY, and the Navy has Arsenal). ''All'' of them are convinced that they have a duty to one-up the others, and ''all'' of them are convinced that the others' models are just going to lead the world to armageddon.* IsThatTheBestYouCanDo: Solidus says it repeatedly during his boss battle.* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Just as with ''[=MGS1=]'', the mooks you encounter wear different uniforms depending on whether they're patrolling indoors or outdoors, or responding to an enemy sighting, etc. However, the Meryl trick won't work anymore: they also use different weapons depending on where or why they're patrolling. Raiden's stolen uniform only works in the Shell 1 core while carrying the AKS-74U; trying to blend in with the guards on the struts, wearing drab green and carrying AN-94s, won't end well.* JerkassHasAPoint: Solidus knows what the Patriots intend to use Arsenal and GW for, and arguably has a valid point (self-centered as it is) that it strips away the concepts of free will, and the ability to establish a legacy for one's self. Too bad he also wants to destroy people's lives in order to secure what he wants.* JokeItem: ** The shaver.** On the crow's nest of the ''Discovery'', Snake can find a wet box that is drenched in the rain. It falls apart more easily than other boxes and is very conspicuous.* JustFollowingOrders: S3, [[spoiler: a thought experiment based around the events of Shadow Moses Island]]. The idea was that if their A.I. (in this case, [[spoiler:The Colonel a.k.a. GW]]) was clever enough to [[spoiler:guide Raiden through this entire game, it could be trusted to run continuously on its own and police the internet]].* KangarooCourt: How Dead Cell Commander Jackson was sentenced to prison.* KatanasAreJustBetter: Inverted; Solidus uses a Daisho pair (a katana and a wakizashi) almost whenever he's on screen and fighting, and Raiden uses a straight-bladed daito (Japanese catch-all for a long bladed sword). Guess who beats whom at the end of the game?* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Poor Emma...]]* KissingDiscretionShot: Raiden's parting line after beating Solidus. He basically tells the player to screw off so he can whisper sweet nothings into Rose's ear in private.* LameComeback:-->"Metal Gear only has room for one! Gurlukovich, you and your daughter will die here!"\\"Damn you."* LargeHam: Fortune, to no end. Ocelot [[HypocriticalHumor of all people]] even lampshades this during his [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech reason you suck speech]].* LateArrivalSpoiler: Invoked with the Japanese version of the game. Since the Japanese got ''Sons of Liberty'' a month after the North American release, it made no sense for Konami to keep Raiden's presence a secret over there. As a result, not only is Raiden featured on the Japanese cover art, but the launch trailer was all about unveiling his character. The Japanese version even allows players to skip the Tanker chapter entirely and jump into the Raiden portion immediately.* LeaveNoWitnesses: Sergei and his men install Semtex throughout the ''Discovery'', intending to sink it with all hands onboard once they've boosted RAY. Ocelot beats Sergei to the punch and activates the bombs before he can get away.* LethalJokeItem: In the Naked Raiden sequence (remembered as That One Level by [=MGS2=] vets), there is one item for you to collect: a flashy ''Zone of the Enders'' box! Unfortunately the box is useless as camouflage, since guards will be lured by the ProductPlacement and try to inspect it. Like all boxes, however, it does allow Raiden to scurry around while crouching. You can reach the exit very easily by speeding behind the waist-high guardrails and crates in the RAY hangar.* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Probably the oddest invocation. There's about 17-18 speaking characters, some of whom only get a few minutes of screentime. But since each one of them has an ''incredible'' amount of backstory (even Scott Dolph and Sergei Gurlukovich who both [[spoiler:die at the end of the Tanker chapter]]) and some of their personalities really hog the screentime (looking at you Rose), it certainly ''feels'' like there are loads and loads. Ames' backstory is detailed in the in-universe novel ''In the Darkness of Shadow Moses'', which chronicled his behind the scenes maneuverings during Liquid Snake's revolution.* LonelyBachelorPad: It's mentioned that Raiden's home looks like this, despite having a girlfriend. A sparse bed, bare walls, nothing else. When Rose broke in there because she started getting paranoid that he had a second girlfriend (he wouldn't let her visit his room), she commented that "There was nobody there. Not even you."* LongGame: The entire two-year span of the game was orchestrated by the Patriots to stage a training arena for [=S3=], discrediting Philanthropy in the bargain.* LostInTranslation:** In the Japanese version, some of the characters share voice actors with characters featured in the original ''Metal Gear Solid'' in order to drive home derivative nature of the game's events. Solid Snake and Solidus themselves are both voiced by Akio Otsuka (rather than being voiced by different actors like in the English version), whereas Olga is voiced by Kyoko Terase in order emphasize her resemblance to Meryl. In addition, the two main hostages, Ames and President Johnson, are voiced by Masaharu Sato and Yuzuru Fujimoto, the same voice actors as Decoy Octopus and Kenneth Baker, whereas Mr. X switches between Kyoko Terase's own voice speaking through a filter and archived recordings of Kaneto Shiozawa as the Cyborg Ninja.** The Japanese version got a moment of this themselves thanks to the above. One of the additions to the ''Substance'' release is a VR mission boss fight against Meryl, wherein she reuses Olga's voice clips. This would have made sense for the Japanese version given that, as above, Olga and Meryl have the same voice -- but except for the HD Edition almost a decade later, the Japanese ''Substance'' only had the English voice acting, so Meryl [[TheOtherDarrin now has a Russian accent for no particular reason]].* MakingASplash: RAY's hydraulic cannon. Sucker can cut through metal. * ManBehindTheMan: Invoked beautifully. From the start, Solidus is presented as the BigBad, but it turns out that he's being manipulated by [[spoiler:Revolver Ocelot, who's been working for the Patriots the whole time]]. Similarly, we think that the bad guys' ultimate evil super-weapon is Metal Gear [=RAY=], but it turns out to be [[spoiler:the Big Shell itself, which is actually a disguised Arsenal Gear]].* ManHug: Snake and Otacon's choreographed "bro-shake". Which also doubles as a physical interpretation of the KonamiCode.* MeaningfulName: The "Big Shell" is a literal one: [[spoiler:it's a "Big Shell" for a giant underwater fortress to hide under]]. Though it's more "meaningless meaningful name," given there's no non-secret reason for the facility itself to be called a shell. The use of meaningful naming is examined in more detail [[http://metagearsolid.org/reports_vr_theory_2a.html here]].* MechaMooks: Solidus' personal fleet of [=RAYs=], each [[HiveMind programmed to communicate in battle and synchronize their attacks]], and employed to defend Arsenal. There are a total of 25 Metal Gears onboard the vessel: Depending on the difficulty level, Raiden takes out anywhere from 3-20. The remaining ones go berserk and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turn against Solidus Snake]], who makes quick work of four. That leaves only the original Marine Corps prototype, which Liquid Ocelot flees inside of.* MilitaryMashupMachine: ** Arsenal is practically every type of warship that's ever been built -- submarine, cruiser, aircraft carrier, and ICBM launcher.** RAY is the Robert Patrick to REX's plodding Schwarzenegger. An amphibious mech with tank armor, rocket launchers, land weapons, and the ability to jump. In fact, the only thing it ''can't'' do is fire nukes, leading to some fandom debate over whether it's a Metal Gear per se, or strictly an anti-Metal Gear weapon.* MillenniumBug: According to Emma, the [=Y2K=] protective patches on every American's computer also contained a backdoor for the U.S. Government (or rather, the Patriots) -- prophetic in light [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbleed of later events.]] However, this was still [[ConspiracyTheorist tinfoil hat]] territory in 2002.* MindRape: [[spoiler:The entirety of the Plant chapter is basically one long prolonged mind rape of Raiden]]. Subverted, eventually, and very narrowly, by TheStinger.* MindScrew: ** Just about everything that happens after [[spoiler:Emma's death]].** The game heavily implies that not only was the Tanker chapter just Raiden playing a VR Simulation of the tanker, but that Metal Gear Solid 1 was a VR Sim he played too! Which means, we don't know if ''anything'' we have ever seen was real. Raiden says he's played a simulation of the Tanker mission and Snake says "I doubt it accurately recreates the events of that mission." Also, whenever the Colonel explains a control change difference from ''Metal Gear Solid'', he notes "unlike in VR training..." or similar. Additionally, we get told that VR Training is indistinguishable from reality. Pliskin tells Raiden that seeing something crazy like Vamp is something he won't ever see in VR…but if not in VR, where ''would'' you expect to see a vampire in a military setting?** At the beginning of the Plant mission, if you've skipped the Tanker, the Colonel just says "This will be your first sneaking mission." If you've completed the Tanker mission, he and Raiden mention that Raiden's gone through 300 simulated stealth missions including a simulation of the Plant itself. How many of those missions were VR missions from Metal Gear Solid 2, and did any of them include Metal Gear Solid 1?!* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: [[spoiler:The Colonel]] is a textbook example. * MonumentalDamage: The game was scripted to have Arsenal Gear relocate the Art/StatueOfLiberty as it crashed into New York. this was cut from the final game because of being TooSoon after 9/11. Its crash deposits you onto a different, less patriotic landmark (Federal Hall) for the final BossBattle.* {{Mooks}}: The Gurlukovich Mercenaries.* MookMaker: Arsenal Gear, arguably a boss in its own right. It continually deploys unmanned [=RAYs=] to fight you until it finally runs out.* MultiMookMelee: The guard invasion on the tanker, the Tengu invasions inside Arsenal Gear, and a couple of the VR Missions.* MundaneMadeAwesome:** Raiden's hair. Its flowy-ness is fully animated, even ''outside'' of the cutscenes.** Snake's box.** Snake's headband in the Tanker mission. Moreso if you have the infinite-ammo one, whereupon the straps lengthen themselves to about Snake's height.* MurderSimulators:** The entire point of the Big Shell Incident. Made even worse when it turns out that the point of the simulation wasn't just [[spoiler:to make Raiden the next Solid Snake]], but also [[spoiler:for the Patriots to control human behavior and thought]].** The whole concept is subverted to an extent, when Snake scoffs at Raiden's boasts on the number of VR missions he completed, firmly believing that no "video game" can be a substitute for the real thing (a sentiment mentioned briefly in ''Metal Gear Solid'' as well).* MythologyGag:** Raiden, [[VideoGame/MetalGear turn off the game console right now!]] The Colonel is stated to be [[spoiler:a manifestation of Raiden's psyche, based partly on his past experience]]. The other parts of him are apparently patterned on past FOXHOUND commanders: three of the Colonel's calls inside Arsenal Gear are simply him parroting the mission briefings from the MSX ''Metal Gear'' games, along with one taken from the non-canon ''Ghost Babel''. ** In a retroactive gag, the Colonel claims to have been abducted by aliens at one point. A similar claim was made by [=MGS3=]'s Major Zero. ** Any time Raiden does something that is similar to but different from ''Metal Gear Solid'', the Colonel will tell him "this is different from VR Training!" or "Just like in VR Training!" Essentially, Raiden has "played" the first game and its "virtual missions."** The script for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' that was included in ''The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2'' mentioned that Snake mistook Olga for Meryl when they first encounter each other.** In the novelization, it also mentions that Snake took Russian courses during the part where he listens in to Olga and Sergei's conversation, which was also what the manual for ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' stated about one of the tests/drills that recruits for FOXHOUND have to take.** Snake runs into a silhouette of Vulcan Raven, still sporting his 32-bit polygons from the first one, but it's [[BigShadowLittleCreature revealed to be a small toy.]] Looks like he's still "watching" Snake, just as he promised.** In a nice jab at Meryl's drag act in [=MGS1=], "Plisskin" opens the plant mission wearing a balaclava and green fatigues as his disguise. He might as well be wearing cellophane, since Vamp sees right through it!** Raiden can encourage Snake to shave, just like in Alaska. This is the only purpose of the electric shaver power-up.** Keeping calling Snake in the Fatman chapter. He mentions some creative (and goofy) [=C4=] placements, including one on a soldier's backside. While this is later revisited in some of VR missions, it doubles as a callback to [=MGS1=], where Snake could attach [=C4s=] to the backpacks worn by Genome Soldiers.** When Raiden asks Snake where he gets his ammo, Snake just points to his bandana. In ''Metal Gear Solid'', you can indeed earn a bandana that gives you infinite ammo.** Pliskin's look is roughly based on Snake's original design, as seen on the cover art of the first ''VideoGame/MetalGear'', right down to having a similar headset. Not to mention referencing [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork the character that inspired Snake]].** The Colonel's Codec portraits in ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' were later used in this game. [[http://i.imgur.com/07j25.png?1]] [[http://i.imgur.com/ToEo5.png?1]]** In contrast to Raiden's VR challenges, which involve taking snapshots of ghosts, all Snake does is run around photographing cheesecake posters, porno sites and the like. This is in keeping with the risque Photo/Date Mode found in most ''Metal Gear'' sequels.* NatureVersusNurture: In contrast to Snake and his brothers, who were genetically engineered clones of Big Boss, Raiden was trained as a soldier since childhood.* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: One of Raiden's contacts, a hostage named Ames, is tied up along with two dozen other [=VIPs=] in the conference hall. The Ninja suggests using a powerful microphone to pick up the telltale beep of Ames' pacemaker.* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunfight: You'll find the Tengu [=P90s=] are a bigger nuisance than their katana units. Snake easily wallops guards in close-quarters combat, but if he takes too many sniper shots raining from the rafters, he'll die. The reverse is also true: Raiden's hilt can shield him from a few bullets, but not if he's getting hit from multiple directions or behind. Worse, the exaggerated sword movements leave him helpless for a few seconds. However, as the hall narrows, the fixed camera perspective forces you to ditch the guns and rely on the sword. This is intended to train players up for the upcoming Solidus battle.* NeverMyFault: The concept of this is discussed and lampshaded by [[spoiler:the Patriots]] during their speech to Raiden regarding how people in general tend to turn to more convenient half-truths to feel better:-->'''[[spoiler: Colonel]]''': Ironic that although "self" is something you yourself fashioned, everytime something goes wrong, you turn around and place the blame on something else.\\'''[[spoiler: Rose]]''': It's not ''my'' fault. It's not ''your'' fault.\\'''[[spoiler: Colonel]]''': In denial, you simply resort to looking for another, more convenient "truth" in order to make yourself feel better.\\'''[[spoiler: Rose]]''': ...leaving behind in an instant the so-called "truth" you once embraced.* NeverTrustATrailer: ** The trailers for ''[=MGS2=]'' made it look like 100% concentrated awesome. In fact, the trailer only showed scenes from the Tanker mission and included a brief shot of Raiden, making it look like he was a supporting character. The same can be said for the opening credits sequence and [[CoversAlwaysLie the back of the box]], too. Shameless.** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aIrLgLDtYg One trailer]] was bold enough to replace Raiden with Snake in the plant. It even featured footage of Snake battling the Harrier on the Verrazano Bridge, an area only briefly glimpsed in the prologue. ** {{Averted|Trope}} with one scene from the trailer: The escape from the sinking Tanker. It was originally intended that it be implemented into the game, but it didn't go over well with test audiences.* NewMediaAreEvil: Where [=MGS1=] was one giant anti-nuke screed, ''Sons of Liberty'' is about the dangers of the digital era. Both sides in the general conflict (the terrorists and the cyberpolice) are increasingly worried about the ramifications of unfettered communication.* NoBodyLeftBehind: Averted, except in the case where a dead soldier gets replaced by another patrolling soldier. This game was one of the first to have major repercussions for being untidy with the corpses of your enemies, forcing you to hide them in lockers or toss them into the sea, lest they be discovered by another soldier and replaced.* NoGearLevel: Solidus strips Raiden of his skull suit when you reach Arsenal Gear. This happens after the truth is exposed regarding his past, showing that Raiden is figuratively and literally 'naked'.* NonstandardGameOver:** Earned if you're spotted by the guards while playing some of the higher difficulties, which became a standard feature. More notably, letting Solid Snake get killed in the lead-up to the final boss. He can handle himself in a fight, but he's not invincible, and the game automatically ends if he dies.** There are two ways you can get a 'Mission Failed' which are highly unlikely in normal gameplay: falling down the lift shaft on Strut A and letting the bomb explode after the battle with Fatman. Both of these have their own specially-created images for the game over screen.* TheNoseKnows: How Vamp tells that Pliskin is really Snake.* NostalgiaLevel: The Tanker mission, insidiously designed to lull gamers into thinking that this game stars ''the'' Solid Snake. The {{game over}} sting and graphic is an upgraded version of [=MGS1=][='=]s, with Otacon screaming Snake's name as per usual. Mei Ling even makes an appearance if you call Otacon to save enough times (Otacon tries filling in for her with his own lame anecdotes, [[FracturedFairyTale getting everything wrong]], until Mei Ling finally has enough and hijacks the Codec). ** The entire Big Shell can be considered a parody of {{remixed level}}s (or perhaps an elaborate {{game mod}}!); it [[spoiler:blatantly lifts its architectural layout and scripted events from Snake's mission in Alaska]], right down to the cosmetic placement of elevators and forklifts. ** There is an odd sequence onboard Arsenal Gear featuring a recreation of [[spoiler:the torture cell from [=MGS1=].]] The dastardly Revolver Ocelot is present in both, and comments on seeing Raiden strapped down and naked as bringing back great feelings of "nostalgia".** In ''Substance'', Snake returns to his old Shadow Moses look for one of the Snake Tales: "Confidential Legacy" (which also replaces Olga's character model with Meryl). The hardest of the VR Missions also revolves around [=MGS1=] Snake. His levels use the classic 8-bit era [=BGMs=], as well.* NotBigEnoughForTheTwoOfUs: As Ocelot tells Sergei, "Metal Gear only has room for one!"* NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat: Otacon says this in one of the erotic poster [[EasterEgg easter eggs]]; since the poster in question involves a muscular, male chest, and Otacon is expecting a photograph of Metal Gear rather than something homoerotic, HilarityEnsues:-->'''Otacon:''' So what's next? '''[avatar blushes]''' ...so, ah, [[ThisExplainsSoMuch this explains a lot.]] Not that there's anything wrong with keeping it to yourself-- I mean, you know, it's your life and everything...* NotZilla: The first time we see RAY in the present, it emerges from the sea and snatches Solidus' jet with its maw. RAY then dives back underwater and swims to Arsenal while ''still carrying'' the Harrier in its beak. This scene is parodied in "External Gazer" with Gurlugon in place of RAY.* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: ** Otacon rescuing the hostages in the chopper before the Big Shell's destruction. Granted, it's a small moment of awesome amidst the rest of the game's big action sequences, but it's notable for being one of the few times that the series' resident NonActionGuy got to save the day during a field mission.** Snake [[spoiler:getting captured by Fortune]] definitely applies, since that must have been a glorious fight.** We don't see Snake and Olga's second duel, either.** Snake's escape from the sinking USS ''Discovery'', which we only see in blurry cutscenes. Snake not only had to sprint all the way back toward where he came, but also blast his way through Gurlukovich soldiers while ''the hallways were flooding and bulkheads were exploding all around him.'' Otacon mentions that this was the "easy" part -- the real hell came when everyone piled into a boat and tried not to get sucked into the tanker's whirlpool. Maybe one day James Cameron can take a crack at it.* OffScreenTeleportation: Snake can be seen crossing the CD bridge, but when you get into Strut D, Snake is nowhere in sight, and when you speak to him on the Codec, he says he's already in Strut F. [[TookAShortcut How'd he get there so fast?]]* OhCrap: Raiden literally says this when facing down Fortune's rail gun, knowing she can't miss because of her lucky streak.* OldMediaAreEvil: Otacon brings up a good point in a codec chat with Raiden: two years have passed since the erection of the Big Shell, and it hasn't made a scratch in the pollution level. "Of course, the ''media'' doesn't report that sort of thing." There's still plenty of room on Kojima's soapbox to bash cable news.* OneDoseFitsAll: Zig-zagged, due to GameplayAndStorySegregation. This game is the first in the series to feature a tranquillizer pistol, with which enemies can be dispatched non-lethally. Tranquillizer darts will be equally effective on any regular enemy regardless of size, provided they are not wearing full body armour, making this a straight example. In boss fights, however, it's played with. Bosses can also be defeated non-lethally, but rather than knocking them out with a single dart to the head, they instead have a "stamina" bar (much like their regular health meter) which depletes the more they get hit by tranquillizer darts. However, this stamina bar is based not on the enemy's size, physical fitness or constitution, but rather simply scales up linearly as part of the game's difficulty curve. So it's averted, but in the interests of gameplay rather than realism (could be considered an AcceptableBreakFromReality, as the boss fights would be very anticlimactic if the bosses reacted to tranquillizer darts the same way the regular enemies do). This also goes for the [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater third game]] in the series.* OneHitKill: ** The stab attack. This will, in fact, kill enemies even if the HF Blade is blunted. ** Of the three VR bosses, the amorous Gurlugon is the easiest to defeat. [[spoiler:Just lay a porno mag within its line of sight, and it will suffer a [[HornyNosebleed nosebleed]] and faint.]] It's a bad idea to wear the Gurlukovich uniform, though; Gurlugon will take Raiden for a mate and scoop him up like Fay Wray, causing a game over.* OneSizeFitsAll: Averted. Raiden's enemy uniform doesn't fit right, and if you bump into someone while wearing it, you will take the uniform off.* OnlyTheWorthyMayPass: The Big Shell's layout and obstacles are copied from [[spoiler:[=MGS1=];]] however, players will be thrown by the [[GottaCatchEmAll Gotta Freeze 'Em All]] race against Fatman's bombs. Ocelot later explains they hired Fatman as an "examiner" to see whether Raiden was ready for the real simulation. Once Fatman bites the dust, the story jacknifes into the [[spoiler:Shadow Moses mission]]: Instead of tracking down [[spoiler:the DARPA Chief via a transmitter in his blood]], it's Ames and his pacemaker.* OrganicTechnology: [=RAYs=] make use of the same artificial musclefiber as Raiden's/Solidus' suits, which grants them amazing dexterity despite their huge size. Also, in a truly bizarre revelation, it turns out that the [=RAYs=] ''bleed'' when shot. Call up Otacon, and he'll clarify that this viscous red goo is "nano-paste" to seal the breaches in RAY's armor. This is apparently true only of the Arsenal version, and not the one Raiden fights in ''Metal Gear Rising''. * OxygenatedUnderwaterBubbles: Of [[JustifiedTrope a sort.]] Following a bomb detonation set by Fatman, the basement offices of Shell 2 are completely submerged. Raiden has a standard [=O2=] gauge which he replenishes by swimming up to the ceiling grates, as the next floor over hasn't flooded yet.* PacifistRun: Both Snake and Raiden get access to a tranquilizer gun from the beginning of their respective segments. Excluding Fatman and Solidus, who die no matter how you fight them, you never have to directly kill a single person.* PaperThinDisguise: Kojima is on-record as deliberately making "Pliskin" as thin a disguise as possible to see how many fans would be fooled anyway. Justified in-universe in that despite Snake's fame by the time of the game, relatively few people know what he ''actually looks like'', thanks to never really being caught clearly on camera. His deeds are known, his face is not.* ParryingBullets: Raiden and the Tengu mooks get the ability to deflect gunfire after about two minutes of practicing with it ''against nothing'', with no indication they've ever touched a sword before. The sword description actually states it's magnetic, and would allow anyone to block bullets so long as they faced they same direction. However, it is still outlandish, and might as well have been [[AppliedPhlebotinum coated in nanomachines]]. To explain further, a magnetic field will induce eddy currents in nonferrous metal objects (like bullets) as the object moves through the field. The field will then repel the induced eddy currents. This is the principle induction coil guns use to shoot nonferrous projectiles. Of course, you need a ''staggeringly'' strong magnetic field to significantly deflect bullets this way. * PatrollingMook: The purpose of the regular soldiers. When they see you, they'll call for back-up and more heavily armored and better organized soldiers will arrive to assist; these guys are the real killers. These regular soldiers are little threat on their own (except on higher difficulties) and the real threat they pose is calling in these kill-squads.* PipeMaze: In the pump room, one of the [=C4s=] is hidden in a nest of pipes.* PistolWhipping: Raiden can do this with his Nikita bazooka, of all things. [[CarryABigStick It has a lot of heft]], enough to clobber Vamp when he wall-jumps and knock him back into the pool (and indeed this is the preferred strategy).* PlatonicCave:** The Plant chapter is [[spoiler:an elaborate re-creation of the Shadow Moses crisis]]. The plant itself [[spoiler:is just camouflage for Arsenal Gear]], and crumbles away when Raiden finds out.** In fact, everything from Raiden's point of view is artificial. His past in Liberia has been mind-wiped by nanos, he's been promoted through connections rather than merit, and [[spoiler:Rosemary is a paid actor tailored to meet Raiden's sexual tastes]]. Once these revelations come to light, [[spoiler:the Colonel's and Rosemary's A.I. crashes]] and can't be called again.* PlayingThePlayer: ** The story is not entirely metatextual, though it clearly grew out of Kojima's observations on his own hit games and the nature of sequeldom. Since nobody ever questions the presence of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg ninjas]], [[StrangledByTheRedString intrusive and sappy romance subplots]], or [[EnsignNewbie undertrained agents]] in these games, why should our hero? [[spoiler:The Patriots got wise to this and used a generic FOXHOUND mission for their [=S3=] template.]] ** This game absolutely ''savages'' the conventional relationship between the player and player character. When Raiden goes 'behind the scenes' of the Big Shell, he wakes up [[{{Retreaux}} in a low-poly 32-bit replica]] of [[spoiler:Liquid Snake's torture room]]. This is the heart of [=MGS2=]: [[spoiler:a shoddy, barely-disguised copy of [=MGS1=] repackaged and sold to gullible audiences]]. To put it in perspective, it's the gaming equivalent of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKBsohgTKiY this.]]** Story-wise, the Patriots are as much in control of Snake/Raiden as we are, almost as if Kojima wants to make us complicit in their plot. Everything Snake and Raiden do in their chapters is furthering the goals of [=S3=], and it is only when they ''stop'' being player characters (Snake becoming "Plisskin" and operating alone; Raiden noticing the player's name on his dog tags and tossing them away) that they drop off the Patriots' radar.* PointOfNoReturn: ** For the opening Tanker prologue, the speech about Metal Gear RAY starts, and Snake will not be able to go back up top because taking photos of the weapon is the goal; Snake only has a limited time to get said photos before the speech finishes, which will get him caught and cause a NonStandardGameOver.** During the Harrier fight, Solidus goes [[MacrossMissileMassacre a little overboard]] with his missile barrage, culminating in a cluster bomb rain from RAY. This severely damages the plant and cuts off travel between both Shells. However, Raiden is able to return to Shell 1 via a precarious walk across the oil fences, 40 meters below. Most of Shell 1 is locked for good, though, and you can't backtrack to Shell 2. Needless to say, the whole plant is inaccessible once Arsenal Gear rises. The POTN that leads to this is Emma's rescue; once Raiden rescues her, the player '''must''' do her escort mission, and once it's over, the game will insert them into Arsenal Gear and they won't be able to return to the Big Shell [[spoiler:because it's destroyed]].* {{Postmodernism}}: ** The game attempted to be a fully postmodern savaging of video games, sequels, and video game ''players''. [[BitingTheHandHumor Attacking the consumers]] went over exactly as well as you'd expect. See [[http://www.deltaheadtranslation.com/MGS2/DOTM_TOC.htm this document]] for a full explanation.** For a video explanation, [[http://youtu.be/T-2YuPGYabw this Super Bunnyhop Critical Close-up]] explains what postmodernism ''is'' and what that means in context to Metal Gear Solid 2. He starts off by explaining that "at some point a hundred years ago, time and space compressed and everyone went crazy."* PowerTrio: Snake (Superego), Raiden (Id), and Otacon (Ego) form one.* {{Powerwalk}}: Led by Otacon of all people. Makes him (and even the ''parrot'' he's carrying) badass for all of five seconds, before Otacon breaks down and starts crying.* ThePrecariousLedge: Raiden has to press his back against the walls of the Big Shell structures on narrow ledges. At one point he even has to crouch and move simultaneously. In the same portion of the game, this trope is exaggerated as a soldier pees over the edge of the building as Raiden crouches and shuffles across the absurdly narrow ledge right underneath him.* PropagandaMachine: [[spoiler:"Selection for Societal Sanity", a large-scale data mining system which would automatically disseminate and alter incoming news on the web.]] With "everything being quantified" by computers, the Patriots can shape people and events better than any Ministry of Truth. The smearing of anti-Metal gear activists was just the wind-up pitch.* PuppetKing: James Johnson, the President of the United States, was essentially acted as a puppet to the Patriots solely to deceive the American populace into thinking they had any control/their constitution still rules the land, and it is heavily implied that pretty much every single president since the 1900s at the earliest were used in a similar manner.* PutOnABus: Everyone from ''Metal Gear Solid'' not called Snake, Otacon, or Ocelot. Mei Ling makes a cameo if you save enough times during the Tanker, and Nastasha is mentioned in passing by Pliskin. [[spoiler:Colonel Campbell hasn't actually made a reappearance in the game.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Q-S]]

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Let's see... a FatBastard bomb enthusiast, a DepravedBisexual who apparently can cheat death itself, a DeathSeeker who can ''deflect bullets''... yup, it's a ''Metal Gear'' game, all right. Ocelot even invokes the trope, saying he deliberately picked Dead Cell because they were "the most impressive collection of freaks outside of FOXHOUND".* RayOfHopeEnding: [[spoiler:The Patriots have won, mostly through manipulating Raiden into carrying out their plans for them, and he's left wondering if he can even trust his own senses after being lied to by everyone around him.]] But Snake promises to continue the fight, and encourages Raiden to make the best of what he has and pass on something of value to the next generation. He departs, and out of the fog comes Rosemary (the real one), offering herself to Raiden in the same spot where they originally met -- a chance at a clean slate.* RecycledScript: [[invoked]] Many plots points, events, and happenings in the game seem completely recycled from the first game, right down to Raiden commenting on how similar the situation he in is to the Shadow Moses Incident. [[spoiler:It turns out there is a ''very'' good reason for this, and in fact this is in effect the primary plot point of the entire game]].* RedShirtArmy: ** Seal Team 10 lives up to their name. Unlike the 'face cards' ("King" Solidus, "Queen" Fortune, and "Jack" Raiden), their role is to act as bait while Raiden slithers his way into the plant. They are butchered by Dead Cell and go unlamented by everyone, including Pliskin and the Colonel. ** Also the Marines onboard the tanker transporting Metal Gear. Not only do they get slaughtered effortlessly by the Russian mercenaries, they also just stand around and do nothing while Ocelot murders their commanding officer and detonates explosives that sink the ship.* RegionalBonus: Thanks to a lengthy delay between the NTSC and PAL releases of the game, the PAL version has an additional difficulty mode added - European Extreme (which also has the original version of the sequence of Arsenal Gear attacking New York included during the playthrough). The initial run of the game also came with a "Making Of" DVD, which featured a documentary about the game's production, a [=GameSpot=] article and every trailer for ''Metal Gear Solid'', ''Zone of the Enders'', and ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', which also included some of the earlier tech demos for both ''Metal Gear Solid'' games.* RightBehindMe: If the player calls him after meeting Emma, Otacon will compliment your efficiency, mentioning that Snake had described Raiden as "a weak, simple-minded, stubborn fool," which causes Raiden to hit the ceiling. He hurls explosive insults Snake's way until Otacon points out that the man who knows 80 ways to kill someone is still on the line and has heard everything Raiden has just said.* RightHandOfDoom: It's not proportionally bigger, but [[spoiler:Ocelot]]'s arm definitely doesn't look like it came factory-standard.* RooftopConfrontation: The Fatman and Solidus battles. * RuleOfSymbolism: The entire game, but most poignantly the end sequence where Raiden [[spoiler:throws away the dog tags with your name on them]] (see some fan attempts at analyzing the game [[http://www.insertcredit.com/features/dreaming2/ here]] and [[http://www.deltaheadtranslation.com/MGS2/DOTM_TOC.htm here]]). This effectively divorces Raiden from the player's control and ends the game. * RuleOfThree: The RAY army surrounds Raiden in groups of three, with a single RAY hopping onto the platform.** There are also three tanker holds, one of which contains the RAY prototype and where Dolph holds his summit.* SamusIsAGirl: The [[spoiler:cyborg ninja]] this time around is none other than [[spoiler:Olga Guruokovich]].* SceneryCensor: Raiden is tortured naked, and then has to escape said room without any clothes - [[HandOrObjectUnderwear with his hands covering his...]] [[BarbieDollAnatomy lack of manhood.]]* SceneryPorn: It's morning again in America. At a few points during cutscenes, the camera will stop to linger on azure skies, or a sunset reflecting off of the ocean.* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou:[[invoked]] [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in Snake's VR missions. In the fifth photography level, one of the suspected "killers" is, in fact, [[spoiler:an [=MGS2=] poster of Snake pointing his gun at the viewer]]. The victim was [[TakeThatScrappy a butt-naked Raiden.]]* SequelNonEntity: Meryl's fate at the end of the previous game was deliberately left ambiguous so that the story could follow either ending; Nastasha's book in the game's extra features does not mention her. Also, Snake came equipped with both his stealth camo and his infinite-ammo bandana (he collects one for escaping Shadow Moses with Meryl, and the other for leaving with Otacon).* SexSells: Oddly enough, Japanese musician and sexy {{bishonen}} {{Gackt}} was used to promote ''Metal Gear Solid 2''. He [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygrvvyMswVI appeared in the Japanese commercials]] and there is also a dog tag in the game with his name on it. This is despite the fact that Gackt himself had nothing to do with the game and didn't even sing a theme song for it.* ShaggyDogStory: The opening mission aboard the Tanker ends in abject failure, with Philanthropy getting stuck with the bill for an historic environmental disaster. Everything after that is just the unspooling consequences of Snake climbing aboard the ''Discovery''. (Adding insult to injury, the list of the Patriots' names which he acquired off of Arsenal turns out to be fake.)* ShaggyFrogStory: Otacon's attempts to imitate Mei Ling's quoting of classic literature.-->'''Otacon:''' "Remember the Deep family's fish, Snake!"* ShipLevel: The Tanker chapter.* ShoutOut:** There are posters of other Kojima games hanging up in various rooms.** Solid Snake's alias, Iroquois Pliskin, is a direct lift from the character "Snake Plissken" from ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''. Similarly, the kidnapping of a U.S. President is intended to mirror that film, with "King" Solidus standing in for the Duke of New York.** Raiden's real name, Jack, and his girlfriend's nickname, Rose, references the names of the protagonist love couple in ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''.*** And the name Raiden itself is based on a type of Japanese fighter planes in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, nicknamed by the Americans as "Jack".** [[spoiler:If you believe that the entire story was a VR sim,]] [[http://www.metagearsolid.org/reports_vr_theory_1.html then everything is a shout out or reference of some sort.]] *** Particularly the 1990 film version of ''[[Film/TotalRecall1990 Total Recall]]''. Raiden's debriefing by Solidus is a dead ringer for Arnie's scene with Cohaagen, and there are a couple of other nods, as well: [[spoiler:Rosemary]]/Lori's behavior inside Arsenal, the Colonel/Edgemar demanding that the player turn off the game, etc.*** Stillman and Fatman's relationship would appear to be a cheeky reference to ''Film/ANewHope''. Stillman, realizing he's about to be cut down by his old student, finds himself at peace and reassures Raiden that he can dismantle the final bomb. The actor who played Anakin in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Sebastian Shaw, closely resembles Fatman unmasked.*** This is arguably lampshaded in WebVideo/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfAbridgerty, in which Stillman calls Fatman APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil.*** ''[[Film/TheRock Gentlemen, welcome to the Rock...err, Shell.]]'' Once again, we have disgruntled ex-military types holding an island hostage by pointing missiles at an adjacent city. Perhaps coincidentally, Harry Gregson-Williams also composed the music for that film.*** The Colonel flipping between [[spoiler:a skull-face and his normal one]] evokes the classic paranoia film ''Film/TheyLive''*** Raiden is stuck in a bad remake of ''TheTrumanShow'', which only ends by crashing a ship straight through the set dressing. He calls out his unseen maestro during the finale.** One of the obtainable dog tags is named "Kaori Yae": this is the name of a character from Konami's popular [[DatingSim dating simulation]] game ''[[VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial Tokimeki Memorial 2]]''.** Taking a picture of the ghost in Hold 2 during the Tanker Chapter in the ''HD Collection'' will result in a trophy/achievement being unlocked. Its name? [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} "Who ya gonna call?"]]** The parrot's "Venus in Cancer" line was originally "[[Film/ItConqueredTheWorld The Venusian Crab!]]". However, due to a mistranslation, the reference is lost in the English version.** Peter Stillman's name is a reference to the character of the same name in Paul Auster's ''Literature/TheNewYorkTrilogy''.*** Several cut characters in MissionControl (who would be revealed as [=AIs=]) were meant to follow this ThemeNaming.** The name "Sons of Liberty" is a possible shout out to the radical group in ''Literature/TheTwoGeorges''.** Dead Cell, the UsefulNotes/NavySEALS who go...well, rogue, and their commander, who is put through a KangarooCourt for misappropriation of funds. [[Literature/RogueWarrior Oh yes?]] Makes sense really, given the older Boss/Snake gets the more he resembles Marcinko.* SimulationGame [[spoiler:This is what the entire Plant chapter is revealed to be. Raiden's mission is just a redo of Snake's in ''Metal Gear Solid'']].* SinisterSilhouettes: When facing twenty [=RAYs=] on the tail of Arsenal.* SinisterSurveillance: This game introduces the cyphers, as part of the Patriots' front row seats to the action.* SmokingIsCool: This is who Solid Snake is, anyway, and Raiden does not like it.* SneezeOfDoom: This is the third game in the series (the others being ''[[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake Metal Gear 2]]'' and ''Metal Gear Solid 1'') where Snake can catch a cold from exposure. He only sneezes when standing stationary, ruining your attempts at stealth.** Shooting at the targets above Genola's head will cause dust to rain down, making Genola sneeze. The strong gust can knock Snake off the tiny platform to his death.* SnipingMission: ** At the end of both Shells, the main campaign pauses for some ''VideoGame/SilentScope'' action: In the first sequence, Solidus has wallpapered the connecting bridge with enough [=C4=] to blow Raiden to the moon. With Snake's (grudging) help, Raiden must snipe at each of the green transmitters to disable all the bombs, grudging because Snake is a [[DrillSergeantNasty drill sergeant]] who complains if you overlook any hidden bomb units. Most of them are blocked from view by seagulls, cyphers, and even Solidus' grandiose flag. (Interestingly, ''Snake Eater'' featured a very similar sequence, except that Snake actually wanted a bridge to explode.)** In the second, Emma tiptoes across the rim of the oil fence while being assaulted by gunfire, cypher drones, and even mines. Raiden (and later Snake, once he shows up) take turns picking off the obstacles to clear a path for her.* SomebodySetUpUsTheBomb: Fatman hits Stillman with one of these. [[spoiler:Stillman doesn't make it]].* SomeDexterityRequired: In order to make up for the lack of [[{{Waggle}} pressure-sensitive buttons]] on its gamepad, the [[UpdatedRerelease HD Rerelease]]'s UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} version has you aim your weapon without shooting by clicking in the left stick while pressing a button, but leaving you unable to ''put away'' your weapon without firing it unless you unequip and then requip your weapon, which on higher difficulties can easily result in a held-up enemy deciding to [[ISurrenderSuckers change his mind on the whole "surrendering" thing]]. It's incredibly awkward to say the least.* SpinAttack: Pressing [=R3=] makes Raiden leap while swinging his katana.* TheStinger: A ''Franchise/MetalGear'' staple. [[spoiler:Otacon successfully learns the identities of the Wiseman's Committee, and reveals to Snake that all 12 of them have been dead... for over a hundred years]].* StopPokingMe: ** Aiming your cross-hairs at Snake is....ill-advised.** Otacon's avatar gets impatient if you keep e-mailing him pointless photographs. (Although a couple of them [[ActuallyPrettyFunny tickle his funny bone]].) Ever the love-starved geek, he makes "backups" of any voyeuristic photos you might have taken. For, um, the files. Yeah.** Arsenal gear's codec convos. The Colonel, like Ocelot in the last game, accuses you of trying to hack the game if you keep phoning.* AStormIsComing: The Tanker mission is a soggy one. In an inversion of this, Snake catches a cold in the Hard difficulty.* SummonBiggerFish: There are numerous ways to take out the Godzilla parodies in Raiden's and Snake's VR missions. A fast way is to [[spoiler:shoot the Stinger missile at a faraway target]] that will call forth either Gurlugon, Genola or Mecha Genola (depending on who you're fighting). Once summoned, the two monsters will ignore you and instead grapple with each other. (This is a call back to ''Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions'', where the player could defeat Genola with this method.)* SuperDeformed: Otacon's goofy avatar. It was later released as [[{{Defictionalization}} a real-life desktop app]] called "Otaclock."* SuperFunHappyThingOfDoom: A big part of the Plant chapter's aesthetic. It's the epicenter of a dead-serious plot involving nuclear Armageddon and an ancient conspiracy, but look: It's ''orange!'' And it takes place in the middle of the ocean on a clear, sunny day with seagulls flying all around.* SupportingLeader: Pliskin leaves you to your work in the Big Shell's mess hall. He's already got his hands full with Shell 2.* SurrealHorror: After [[spoiler:Vamp kills E.E]], the game goes [[MindScrew completely bonkers]], and the effect is very disturbing.* TheSwarm: The bowels of the Shell are crawling with sea lice. It's a far cry from [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater killer hornets]], but they're still an annoyance: Sea lice latch onto Raiden's rations, and they have to be cleared away before Emma agrees to follow him upstairs. During the Arsenal launch sequence, the halls of the Shell 1 core are blanketed with lice -- like rats deserting a sinking ship.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:T-Z]]

* TakeCover: The game introduced a shoot-around-the-corner cover system, where Snake or Raiden can crouch behind or press against low walls and aim from behind them, to shoot from around the corner of a wall.** The shoot-around-the-corner cover system of ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' has been employed in later {{stealth based game}}s like the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series and {{tactical shooter}}s like ''VideoGame/RainbowSix Vegas'' (2006), and also predates the more developed cover system of ''{{Kill.Switch}}'' (2003).* TakeItToTheBridge: ** The Harrier fight. See also SEAL Team 10's unlucky encounter with Fortune.** ''Sons of Liberty'' opened with Solid Snake bungee-jumping off the George Washington bridge NW of Manhattan Island.* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Some of the time. Occasionally Codec conversations can be interrupted, but most of the time this is played straight. The most egregious example is when [[spoiler:the Patriots AI]] calls Raiden during [[spoiler:just prior to the final boss battle his climatic confrontation Solidus]], and delivers a prolonged MotiveRant (which doubles as a pretty obvious AuthorFilibuster), which last for a whooping ''twelve-and-a-half minutes''. And ''then'' [[spoiler:a little into the boss fight]], they call again to argue with Raiden over weapon naming conventions. Assuming the calls played out in real time, one must give [[spoiler:Solidus]] serious credit for being extremely polite and patient with Raiden.* TheseHandsHaveKilled: If you call Rosemary after killing your first Gurlukovich goon, Raiden becomes wracked with guilt over taking a life for the first time. WhatMeasureIsAMook, indeed ([[spoiler:though we later learn Raiden popped his cherry long ago, and has a body count rivaling even Snake]]).* ThisCannotBe: ** Solidus delivers one of these during the Harrier fight, and again when Liquid's arm takes over Ocelot.** Ocelot says this while firing round after round of missiles at Fortune, who [[spoiler:deflects them all through sheer force of will]].* ThisIsReality: ** Raiden starts to go [[FreakOut quietly nuts]] after witnessing what Dead Cell can do. The Colonel and Rosemary tell him to snap out of it (it's in this moment of clarity that Raiden becomes [[spoiler:suspicious of his support team]], but he ignores his better judgment).** Raiden is an analog for the player's real-life role as a ''Metal Gear'' fan: those who clamoured for '[[MissionPackSequel VR Missions]]' after the original ''Metal Gear Solid'' and took such pride in beating all of the challenges. Raiden brags to Solid Snake about his VR accomplishments, listing off some of the mission numbers from ''VR Missions'' while images of the game play in the background, clearly winking at players who may share his attitude. Snake scoffs, realizing he's stuck with a delusional rookie who's never seen any ''real'' action.** Raiden has another crack-up onboard Arsenal, after being betrayed by all of his allies and having his identity ripped away from him. It's here that Raiden (and the player, probably) starts to doubt his surroundings and even his own cognitive faculties. What is real? Snake sees that he's in incredible distress and tries to keep him sane, which is asking a lot under the circumstances: awakening on a giant robot turtle, [[{{McNinja}} Russian ninjas]] coming out of the woodwork, etc.* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: Included, unusually for a video game. Presumably because it was written in 1999, depicted terrorist attacks in New York, and was completed in September 2001.* ThisLoserIsYou: This was Kojima's intent with the above replacement protagonist. [[spoiler:Raiden was made to represent the player, and their lack of capability of being Solid Snake]].* TimeSkip: The gap between Snake's apparent death onboard the ''U.S.S. Discovery'' and the aftermath. This conveniently skips past Raiden's training, [[spoiler:as well as the fact that he's a Patriot stooge]], just like Ames and Johnson. This is why most characters react to him with suspicion.* TimedMission: Parodied when the Marine Commandant doesn't end his speech when he's supposed to, with the timer actually pausing whenever he takes a break from reading the speech. Played straight with the bomb on the submarine in the Plant Chapter.* ToiletHumor:** While attempting to cross between struts while one of the Russian guards attempts to investigate the area [[spoiler:after Raiden shot down Solidus' Harrier jet]], one of the guards ends up having to pee off the side of the strut, and Raiden has to [[UrineTrouble either evade the urine or go under it.]] Contacting the Colonel while standing directly underneath the stream leads to funny conversation between Raiden, the Colonel and Rose.--->'''Colonel:''' Sneaking missions are called "wet works", after all. ** Then there's Johnny and his ever-present bowel problems...** Using the directional mic on one of the hostages will cause her to wet herself. Once Ames is located, during the scene where you're supposed to listen in to Ocelot and Solidus, you can instead point the mic left and listen to Johnny.* ThrowItIn: In-universe example: During Scott Dolph's speech in the Tanker chapter, there is a time limit (Otacon has a copy of Dolph's speech notes and the timer is Otacon's estimate for how long it will take him to make the speech). The timer will sometimes freeze when he throws a few things into his speech that weren't originally in it, such as exercises to relax the audience's muscles, or some jokes. This proves to be beneficial to players trying to get the pictures on time.* ThrowingTheDistraction: ** Snake and Raiden can now lob empty ammo clips, a trick which became a series staple.** A favorite Russian tactic: Olga attempts to distract Snake in a cutscene by allowing her cap to blow away in the wind, but Snake's not buying. Later, Ocelot distracts Sergei by [[TheCoatsAreOff throwing off his duster]], then blowing two holes through him and Dolph.* {{Tomorrowland}}: The Patriots have squirreled away all of their secrets (or at least the lion's share of it) inside the Arsenal mothership. The interior is a stark change from anything we've seen before, up to and including [=MGS1=].* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Or rather, ''European video game magazines and the Internet always spoil'' - thanks to a delay of several months, ''every single twist'' in the game was spoiled beforehand if you lived in Europe. Some weren't even avoidable, either. Several magazines spoiled the switch of playable character from Snake to Raiden ''on the front cover''. It's also part of the reason for the RegionalBonus mentioned above.** Interestingly enough, almost astonishingly averted with the actual trailers for the game. In fact, Kojima was so eager to not invoke this trope that it created a sense of NeverTrustATrailer, and some players felt deceived that he tried to hide the twist of Raiden being the real PlayerCharacter. The only scene in trailers where this could have been played straight was Snake in the hallways getting flooded with water, partially spoiling the sinking of the Tanker, but even that's a subversion in the end - the actual scene from the game where Snake runs around the flooding tanker was taken out.* TrojanPrisoner: The locks on Raiden's torture table get released on their own, but you might find yourself back-tracking to the room during an Alert. If Raiden flattens himself against the table, he automatically stands spread-eagle and pretend to be restrained. Guards won't look twice, aside from the GagPenis line quoted above.* TruckDriversGearChange: Although it doesn't happen at the end of the piece, the main theme features this: the first musical idea is played, and then repeated up two semitones.* UnderTheSea: Like Snake, Raiden first surfaces in full scuba gear. Unlike Snake, however, his swimming comes into play later in the game after Shell 2 is flooded.* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Revolver Ocelot/Liquid Snake, Arsenal Gear, and the Patriots as a whole]] get away without a fight. Also, while there is a "fight" against [[spoiler:Fortune]], it consists of taking cover until the fight ends automatically, and though the character continues to play a role and pose a potential threat throughout the game, [[spoiler:she dies in a cutscene]].* UniqueEnemy: The Hi-Tech Soldiers, who are members of Solidus Snake's private army and have a distinct American accent (in contrast to the Russian soldiers that form Gurlukovich's militia), only appear during alert phases after the player has fully explored the Shell 1 core, so it's pretty easy to play through the entire game without encountering them. * UnreliableNarrator: Of a fashion. Raiden is actually pretty damn sane throughout the whole journey, and constantly asks questions that anyone in his situation would most assuredly ask. [[spoiler: However, towards the end of the game, due to a combination of the Patriots MindScrew, the collapse of the GW mainframe (which are in control of Raidens nanomachines), Raidens own barely functioning sanity, the lingering fears of his VR training and the incredibly stressful situation he finds himself in cause Raiden to justifiably snap, causing large portions of Arsenal Gear to be hallucinated, such as the infamous FissionMailed sequence and the fight against the Metal Gear RAY armada.]] Of note is that the last one ''actually happened'', it's just [[spoiler: that Raiden hallucinated the arena he fights the RAY's in.]]* UnusableEnemyEquipment: The Colonel bends over backwards to provide an in-universe reason for why Raiden can't steal weapons from guards. The guns contain a sort of login feature which only recognizes one user, and automatically lock up if they detect the wrong the biometric data - Raiden only gets his hands on an AK by stealing an unused one from the warehouse in Strut F.* UselessUsefulStealth: It's much easier to knock guards out than to sneak past them. Going in guns blazing, however, is not a viable option.* {{Vibroweapon}}: The high-frequency blade. In a variation, its vibrations [[AllThereInTheManual cause it to be extremely hot]], thus increasing its cutting power. Which really [[VoodooShark raises more questions than it answers]]. * ViewersAreGeniuses: Common criticisms of the game include its extremely complicated plot twists near the end of the game. The S3 Plan is partly an AuthorFilibuster on gaming and the franchise itself: advising players to stop demanding the same ''Metal Gear Solid'' experience over and over, and start looking at the messages, themes and politics behind Kojima's games.* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:** Shooting a guard in the crotch nets you a one hit kill. It's tough to do, so get up close and personal and hold them at gunpoint. If you're above the nut shot, you can wing their arms and legs until they're hobbling around on one foot. Don't worry; they'll eventually pass out from blood loss. You can shoot birds. You can shoot your escort partner (game over) or just knock her out and do... things to her (earning you an angry call from her brother). You can take indecent photos of two passed-out teenage girls. Kojima wants you to be *ahem* immersed in the game.** You can also humiliate the guards by, after knocking them unconscious, shooting their gun arm, wrecking their radio, and/or injuring at least one of their legs. The guard, if all three will happen, will attempt to call for backup, but will look at the radio in disappointment, be unable to use their weapon, and will limp away from danger... [[TheJoysOfTorturingMooks right into that Claymore mine you set up behind him.]]** Averted with the parrot in the Shell 1 computer room, who deflects bullets just like Fortune does and will alert enemies if you mess with him. Assuming you haven't already killed or tranquilized everyone else in the room.** Other birds in this game, namely seagulls, do not enjoy invincibility and your support team will completely lose their mind if you decide to exploit their mortality too often, though they will poop in your eyes without provocation and therefore deserve it. You can, however, set off explosive charges amongst swarms of sea lice to your heart's content because nobody likes sea lice.* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment:** During Raiden's sword training session, if you hit Snake either by mistake or intentionally, he will fire his gun at you, calling you a moron.** Back when he's Pliskin, you can aim at him with the new pistol he had just given you after his first cutscene. Shoot him (except in the head, which is a game over) and he'll shoot right back with his assault rifle. Shoot him enough times and he'll keep firing as long as you're in his sight.** There are seagulls on the Big Shell, and if you chase away the seagulls then look up in the sky in first person, the seagulls will crap on you. There are also splatters of seagull poop that you can slip on, and there's one pipe covered with it that can cause you to slip off, fall into the water, and drown.** Killing enough of the seagulls on the Big Shell as Raiden causes the Colonel and Rose to call you, and they chew you out over your animal cruelty. ''Rose will break up with you'' and won't let you save until you apologize. Same goes for hitting hostages.* VideoGamePerversityPotential: Kojima knows his audience. Raiden can poke around the ladies bathroom, or knock Emma senseless and then lie on top of her (causing Otacon to go ballistic if you call him). Perhaps the most reprehensible example is tranquing one of the Shell 1 hostages and then taking upskirt photos of her. This is the last straw for Rosemary, who dumps Raiden over the Codec and will refuse to speak with you afterward. ''Tactical Espionage Action!''** In most of these situations, the Colonel will shake his finger at you for a minute, then admit he'd probably try the same thing under the circumstances.(!)* VideoGamePhysics: Vamp is basically made of this. He can [[WalkOnWater run on top of water]], [[WallCrawl run vertically up walls]], and swim around in fluid that [[FridgeLogic he just established as having far less density than water]].* VirtualTrainingSimulation: Raiden has no actual combat experience at the beginning of the Plant chapter, [[spoiler:well, none that he [[RepressedMemories remembers anyway]] ]]; all his training thus far has consisted of VR missions. This takes on a very meta note when flashbacks to these VR missions demonstrate that they are, in fact, the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and its accompanying VR missions -- the same ones the player themselves has played. Additionally, a popular fan theory holds that [[spoiler:the entirety of the Plant chapter, and possibly the Tanker chapter also, is a VR simulation]]; see the Trivia tab.* VisualPun: A rather creepy one at the very end of the game. In the Codec call just before the final boss fight, [[spoiler:Raiden asks the AI Colonel who he really is. His response is to switch his mug shot from normal Campbell to [[NightmareFace fleshless-skeleton Campbell]] while telling Raiden "we're not what you'd call ''human''".]]* WhamEpisode: ** Everything after Emma's EscortMission, beginning with [[spoiler:[[KillTheCutie her sudden and shocking death]]]] forms one giant WhamEpisode.** Even the game's ''prologue chapter'' is this: Sergei Gurlukovich is double crossed by Ocelot and then dies (along with Scott Dolph), Liquid's BackFromTheDead thanks to Revolver Ocelot's possessed arm, [[DownerEnding Ocelot escapes with RAY and everyone aboard the Tanker either dies or is thought to be dead]] - This even includes [[FakingTheDead Snake himself]]. And then to top it all off, [[DecoyProtagonist Snake is replaced by a rookie codenamed Raiden]].* WhatTheHellHero: Raiden is upset at Snake for [[spoiler:betraying him and handing him over to the Sons of Liberty (even if it was faked)]] because Snake didn't warn him about it first.* WhatTheHellPlayer: ** If you go trigger happy and shoot Olga when she's unconscious, Otacon will express disgust at what you're doing.** Also during the Tanker mission, you can use your camera to take pictures of pretty much anything. Taking pictures of Olga's knocked out body will result in Otacon asking you if you like her when you upload them. Do it enough and he starts calling you a pervert. Sending him pictures of the private regions of the male guards will cause him to exclaim, "Snake! Stop it! You're freaking me out!" Finally, he has at least 3 unique responses to you sending him pictures of the Marine commander repeatedly, the best one being, "Commandant again... Look, if you like him so much, I'll print this out and make a panel out of it, put it over your bed or something." ** Shoot innocent seagulls or abuse hostages, and the Colonel and Rose will severely chew you out, with Rose downright refusing to let you save and even breaking up with you if you continue.** Punching Emma and/or laying suggestively on top of her while she's knocked out will cause justifiably angry reactions from her and Otacon if you call them via Codec. Killing her will net you a NonstandardGameOver and scathing quotes from your horrified allies.** Ditto for Snake; he fights back if you try pointing a gun at him ("I wouldn't do that if I were you."), but he can be killed, which results in a NonstandardGameOver and angry reactions from Otacon and Rose.* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Perhaps the most-used tool in Raiden's arsenal is his bottomless canister of liquid nitrogen. It freezes bombs, scares away sea lice, puts out fires, revives unconscious [=NPCs=], blinds enemies, slices, dices, and makes julienne fries.* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Averted: The game explicitly stated and showed that both events take place on the Hudson River of New York City, near Manhattan.* WhyAmITicking: Calling Pliskin during the C4 hunt will reveal that Fatman placed one of Shell 2's C4s on a Gurlukovich soldier. Fatman also will invoke this trope on himself [[spoiler:by activating a large C4 package that he somehow placed underneath himself during his final moments.]]* WithCatlikeTread: ** This happens if Snake makes noise in the Tanker's cargo holds where Dolph is delivering his patriotic speech. The entire place is a mess of steel grating and blocking the projector with Snake's body is ill-advised. A hundred "'''!'''" icons appear if one guard so much as spots you. It's very funny and also prevents Snake from harming any of the Marines, which would be unpatriotic of him.** Kojima also plays a nasty trick in the lower deck where one of the pipe fittings is loose and dislodges if Snake flattens against the wall to hide. CLANK! "Iz zomebody dere?"* WombLevel: The areas of Arsenal Gear explored by Raiden are named for bodily organs: specifically, the ass. He starts out in "Duodenum" and winds up battling Metal Gears on the "Rectum", and the closing scenes take place on what appears to be Arsenal's tail.* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Vamp and Fortune: Scott Dolph, an important figure in their lives, ended up killed allegedly by Solid Snake during the Tanker Incident, they attempted to get their commanding officer (and in the case of the latter, her husband), Colonel Jackson, out of prison after he was falsely accused of misappropriating funds from the military, but they never reopened their case before Jackson died in prison. Then they ended up framed for terrorist attacks that killed both their own allies and civilians alike, and then their unit is killed off by the military under the Patriots orders. The public also doesn't even believe them when they tried to prove their innocence due to being essentially brainwashed by the Patriots, thus leaving them with having to nuke New York City directly as revenge to them, and then it becomes apparent that every time they were used, even that one. Honestly, who can blame them for what they ended up doing?* WordSaladHorror: The first indication that [[spoiler: something is wrong with the Colonel]] near the end of the game is when he starts spouting off random nonsense.-->[[spoiler: '''Colonel''']]: I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hari Kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!* WriterOnBoard: ** Before the final battle of the game, the AI gives Raiden a lengthy, overwhelming lecture telling how much he sucks. Word of God says that Kojima himself is the AI who wants to tell you that you suck for always forcing him to do more ''Metal Gear'' games when he is totally reluctant to do so. And guess what? [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater It didn't]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots quite]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker work]] [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain at all]]...** A good deal of ''[=MGS1=]''[='=]s success can be attributed to illustrator Yoji Shinkawa, who came up with the designs of Snake, Otacon, REX, and the Cyborg Ninja. Kojima came out of ''[=MGS1=]'' wielding more creative capital then ever before, but equally, his own deep philosophical musings [[JustHereForGodzilla had taken a backseat]] to the game's mascots. Hence why Snake advises Raiden to "[[ViewersAreGeniuses look for the meaning behind the words]]" in his epilogue.* YouBastard: [[spoiler:Raiden unknowingly enslaves his countrymen because he wants to believe that he can live up to Solid Snake's image. We enabled him to do so because we, the consumer, demanded a sequel to ''Metal Gear Solid''.]] Let's just say that when the [[spoiler:Colonel AI and Rose]] mock Raiden for wanting to be like Solid Snake and for being too irresponsible to exercise his free will, they're really talking to ''you''.* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: [[spoiler:The Patriots themselves claim this status when they communicate with Raiden at the end. It was confirmed in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'' that Raiden was merely talking to another AI, but at the time, the Patriots claim to be the embodiment of the collective ''will of the United States itself'', which began forming from the founding of the nation. This is the only time the Patriots ever show their hand openly, too; even though we know they're AIs in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', they don't speak and their influence is felt everywhere]].* YouDidntAsk:** [[spoiler:Snake tells this to Raiden shortly before Mr. X/Olga knocks him (Raiden) out.]]** Also stated when Raiden realizes that they knew that they were developing Arsenal Gear.* YouHaveFailedMe: The Patriots were implied to have taken Ames nanomachines offline for this reason, as well as for [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness the more obvious reason]]. They also had an even worse variation for Olga ''and'' Raiden if they failed their missions (let's just say that it involves the death of Olga's baby for her, and the deaths of both Rosemary and their unborn child for Raiden).* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The Patriots killed Richard Ames for this reason (and subtly for [[LoveRedeems other reasons]]), and had Ocelot kill President Johnson for this reason as well (it may seem like they executed Johnson for betraying them, until you realize that they actually manipulated him into betraying them in the first place), Ocelot nearly does this to Solidus, Fortune, Raiden, and Snake.* YouLookFamiliar: Olga and Meryl are voiced by the same actress in the Japanese version. Likewise, Johnny, and to a lesser extent Snake, comment on the resemblance in-universe.** In the American version, Greg Eagles returns to voice Stillman. He previously played the Cyborg Ninja and the DARPA Chief.* YouALLLookFamiliar: The All-American Marines don't wear masks like those shifty foreign mercenaries do. As a downside, they all use the same character model. The same goes for the BoundAndGagged [=VIPs=] who were taken hostage along with the President. In fact, Ames is easily spotted simply because he's the only NPC with an original hairstyle!* YouKilledMyFather:** Averted in an odd way. [[spoiler:Solidus reveals that he killed both of Raiden's parents in an attempt to get Raiden to fight him, but Raiden doesn't care too much after the MindScrew he's been put through. It's also implied that Solidus was telling Raiden this specifically to give Raiden the motivation to fight him so that he at least has a chance to survive, even though he intends to kill Raiden partially because of the Patriots machinations, but also because Raiden carries nanomachines containing what is essentially a backup system for the Patriots so he could gain their identities and hunt them down, should Solidus win against the fight.]]** Subverted with Olga in regards to Solid Snake: She did initially believe that Snake murdered her father. [[spoiler:Actually, it was Ocelot, her father's best friend, who did the deed]]. However, shortly after encountering Solid Snake, she realized that he didn't kill her, and in fact, he was the reason she was still alive after the events of the Tanker Incident. Both subverted and played straight with Fortune, who also thought Solid Snake was the one who murdered her father, although she had more trouble believing that he truly didn't kill him. She eventually learns that Snake really didn't kill her father during Ocelot's speech, as well as learned that it was actually [[spoiler:Ocelot]] who did the deed, and does attempt to avenge him. However, that didn't quite work out.** Not in ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' itself, but in the non-canon Snake Tales included in ''Substance'', Sergei was revealed to have murdered Meryl's father during a mission at Eldera in the Snake Tales story "Confidential Legacy," although he tricks Meryl into believing that the Marines executed Matt Campbell for treason. As soon as Meryl [[JustBetweenYouAndMe learned the truth after being defeated]], she proceeds to avenge her dad by shooting Sergei, killing him.[[/folder]]------>"[[AC:Relax. It's [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou just a game]]. It's a game just like usual.]]"----